Code Geass: Genetic Mutation
by RaiZero
Summary: Set in an alternate universe, members of the Ashford Academy Student Council are infected with a mythical power after coming into close range with an asteroid fragment filled with radiated sukuradite.This power will become their rise or their downfall. Will they fight or will they protect? PERMANENT HIATUS
1. Stage 1: Exposure

**Hello Everyone!**** Welcome to my newest Code Geass series! It's about...stuff...You'll see what kind of stuff when you read it!**

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**December 31st, 2017 a.t.b.**

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

**1:09 p.m.**

Lelouch Lamperouge wasn't having a good time. But then again, he never did find himself in a pleasurable position when it came to the plans of the Student Council President, Milly. Milly was a very energetic, outgoing, and popular person. She also made sure that those around her would gain that energy, even if they didn't desire it. Another common thing with the Prez was that she forced those in the Council and on occasion, other clubs, to do her bidding to ensure that her plans went off without any interruption.

If things went wrong, she'd bring her wrath down upon those responsible, which was usually Lelouch. And that was happening right now. The dark haired Vice President had forgotten to contact the Rugby Club about putting all of the necessary supplies into the bus for their trip. Due to this minor accident, the whole trip was falling apart. Normally Lelouch wouldn't care, but since he was forced to move the heavy bags, boxes, and crates, he was pissed at his own mistake.

"If you had just called them up then you wouldn't be straining yourself." Milly said as she watched Lelouch help carry the cargo into the bus.

"If you had reminded me, I wouldn't be straining myself." Lelouch said after placing down one of the box's into the cargo area. He pushed it deep into the compartment with the other supplies. Once it was in position, Lelouch stood up and cracked his back. You could hear his spine cracking in multiple positions.

"You know that's bad for you big brother." a voice said. Lelouch turned around and saw his younger sister, Nunnally Lamperouge, standing there with a smile on her face as she watched him work. "How so Nunnally?" Lelouch asked.

"You could get arthritis." Nunnally answered. "My teacher told me so after a boy cracked his fingers in class."

"Your teacher is wrong. It's been proven that arthritis cannot be caused by cracking your fingers or back. It's just a myth. Your teacher must have just wanted the boy to settle down. We all know how annoying sounds like that can get." Lelouch said as he walked back towards the pile of supplies for the upcoming festival.

Today was New Years Eve. The last day of the 2017 year. This meant that they were attending the New Years Festival at for the firework display that evening. Lelouch had heard it was a grand sight. He had never been to Mt. Fuji before and with fireworks, it was sure to be a sight to behold. Lelouch's thoughts were interrupted when he came to where the supplies were resting and where his two fellow classmates and friends were standing.

"Lelouch, take this one. Rai and I got these ones." Suzaku said. Suzaku was the strongest boy in the Student Council, seeing as how he was trained by the famous Kyoshiro Tohdoh of the Black Knights when he was a child, it wasn't surprising that he'd be tough.

"Alright." Lelouch said, accepting the noticeably smaller box. If it meant Lelouch didn't have to strain himself, then he'd gladly accept. "Hey, I was wondering. Where is Gino and Rivalz? I haven't seen them today." Lelouch asked the brown haired boy.

"I think they're at the festival already. They said they had to book the hotel rooms." Suzaku said as he walked with Lelouch towards the bus.

"I thought Rivalz was supposed to do that a month ago." Lelouch said, recalling the meeting about the New Years Festival they had a while back.

"He was SUPPOSED to. He forgot, just like you forgot about the Rugby Team!" Milly said pointing her finger at Lelouch, scolding him.

"Well he had a month's time. I had only 2 days to ask them. I don't think it's fair Milly." Lelouch said as he placed the box into the compartment area. "If you ask me, I think Rivalz should be doing this and I should be with Gino." Lelouch complained.

"Aww don't sweat it Lelouch. Since we're all rooming together tonight, we can make Rivalz pay. Knowing Gino, he has some pranks up his sleeve." Rai said handing Lelouch another box. Rai was the second strongest boy in the Student Council. He was cousins with Suzaku so it made sense. However, Rai was also the second smartest in the Council, meaning he could compete with Lelouch when it came to a game of Chess.

"I guess so." Lelouch said walking back towards the bus and placing the box down. They were finally finished. The boxes and crates were finally moved from their position in front of the school and into the bus' cargo area. Now all they had to do was get to the Fuji Resort and prepare for the festival.

"Okay! Now that we're done, go and pack your things! Remember, only bring the essentials." Milly ordered before running off towards the Girls Dorms.

"Right. Anyway, I'll see you two later then. Remember, we leave in 1 hour." Lelouch told Suzaku and Rai before walking off to the Student Council building with Nunnally. They walked side by side until Nunnally asked, "Lelouch, are you going to ask anybody out tonight?"

This question would have made Lelouch spit out water if he was drinking any. "What do you mean Nunnally?" Lelouch asked, confused by her question. He opened the door to the Student Council building, following Nunnally inside as he waited for her response.

"Well Milly said that New Year Festivals are usually the time when men display their love towards women for the upcoming year. She said that maybe one of the boys in the Student Council would do that, so I was wondering if that was you." Nunnally said as she walked up the stairs.

"Well I think she might have been referring to someone else. Probably Rivalz or Gino. Rivalz likes Milly and Gino likes Kallen, so she might have been talking about them. Or maybe Suzaku or Rai. I'm not interested in anyone right now." Lelouch said as he reached the top of the steps.

"Oh that's a shame."

"How so?" Lelouch asked.

"Well you seemed very down recently. I thought if you had a girlfriend you might have become happier." Nunnally stated.

"Have I really? I'm sorry for worrying you Nunnally. Well, girlfriend or not, it doesn't matter. I'm as happy as I can get." Lelouch said with a smile before walking towards his room. He walked up to his door, unlocked it and entered. His room was spacious. His bed was King sized, his closet was huge, his television was a 40" Druid Flat Screen which sat on a big wooden dresser with drawers for clothes and personal belongings.

He strolled over towards his closet, but on his way he took a peak at the multiple pictures sitting on his dresser. There were pictures of past festivals and events. Pictures of him as a child with family members. But there was one picture that caught his attention the most and for a good reason. Nunnally's odd question was still plaguing his mind and the photograph he was focused on was of all the female Student Council members.

In the picture were 7 girls, with three sitting and four standing behind them. Those in the first row were Nina, Nunnally, and Anya . Those standing behind them were the ones he was focused on. Standing from left to right were Milly, Shirley, Kallen, and Euphie.

Milly was his longtime friend, so seeing her as his girlfriend was out of the picture. Shirley was a close friend as well, but he knew she had a crush on him and Lelouch never showed those feelings back, openly. Kallen was a recent friend, he knew her for only a year now, but she had traits about her that he looked for in a girl. Euphie, well she was his first love, but they were brother and sister.

So this meant that the only people out of the entire photo he would date were Shirley and Kallen. Despite this confirmation, he didn't want to think about it. The idea was too nerve racking and embarrassing so Lelouch let himself stay busy by packing his clothes.

Remembering Milly say to only bring the essentials, Lelouch packed as lightly as possible. Two pairs of black jeans, three white shirts, a button up long sleeved over shirt, his red jacket, three pairs of briefs, three pairs of shin high socks, and finally his towel. That was all he needed clothing wise, now everything else. Lelouch walked towards his bathroom and looked around. It wasn't too small, but it wasn't too big either. The white bathroom itself consisted of the sink, cupboards, a toilet, and a shower/bathtub. Lelouch opened the doors below the sink and looked for shampoo and conditioner.

Normally he would leave them alone and use the one's provided by the hotel, but since he was rooming with 5 other guys, it would be wise to bring along personal accessories for emergency situations. Once he had the two bottles in his hands he closed the cupboards and stood up. He looked at the sink and he reached for his black toothbrush.

Returning to his bed, where his bag lay, he noticed that someone had entered. It was his brother, Rolo. "Hey Rolo. I haven't seen you all day. What's going on?" Lelouch asked as he placed the objects in his hands into his bag's side pockets.

"Big brother...are you going to ask someone out tonight?"

This question brought back the thoughts he had about Kallen and Shirley, which caused his cheeks to redden slightly. Lelouch spoke up, "No. Why is everyone asking me this? First Nunnally and then you? Is Milly spreading rumors again?"

Rolo nodded.

The dark haired student sighed and said, "Don't worry about anything. I'm not going out with anyone anytime soon. Even if I did, I wouldn't leave you or Nunnally alone."

This confirmation made Rolo smile slightly. "I'm sure you wouldn't. Thank you, big brother." Rolo said walking out of Lelouch's room. Rolo was a very sensitive boy. When he was younger, he was often forgotten by their parents. Lelouch was the oldest, meaning he was given attention for his success. Nunnally was the youngest, meaning she was given attention because she was the baby in the family. This left Rolo being nothing in particular.

This sense of abandonment was always replaced by a sense of love, because Lelouch would always stick up for Rolo and Nunnally would never leave him alone. Even now, years after the whole, 'Alone Phase', went by, Rolo still had issues.

Lelouch turned his attention back to his bag and noticed he forgot some things. He walked towards his dresser sitting below his television and opened the top drawer. Inside were many personal belongings. Among them were also things like deodorant, cologne, and body spray. He quickly grabbed hold of his deodorant and cologne. Lelouch would have taken the body spray, but after using it for the first time, many of the girls in the Student Council and in his class complained about it.

Lelouch believed it smelled nice, but the female students of the school would cough and complain about it's use. He didn't understand why, but ever since then Lelouch decided to avoid using it whenever he could. With all of the essentials packed, Lelouch zipped up his bag and started to head out, with 10 minutes to spare.

Lelouch exited his room, locking the door behind him, and walked down the steps towards the main entrance. Standing there were Rolo, Nunnally, and their maid, Sayoko Shinozaki. Rolo was wearing a a short sleeved blue and white jacket over a long sleeved turquoise shirt, with khaki shorts and khaki colored boots. Nunnally was wearing a pink colored dress with ruffles along the bottom and top; the dress started at her shoulders and ended above her knees.

Rolo was carrying a much smaller bag compared to Lelouch's while Nunnally had a slightly bigger bag than Lelouch's. "Are you sure you have everything Rolo?" Lelouch asked pointing at the smaller suitcase.

"Yes big brother. All the essentials." Rolo replied.

"And Nunnally, are you sure you're not taking too much?" Lelouch asked as he looked down at her suitcase.

"Only the essentials. There's a lot of space in there for souvenirs." Nunnally said.

"Right. Well we'd better get going." Lelouch said as he opened the door and led the trio of Lamperouge's out towards the waiting bus. Upon arrival, they saw everyone was present. Each person who was going on the trip were standing in a line as Milly gave them a prep talk.

"Finally! The Lamperouges have arrived! Now I can start my speech!" Milly exclaimed. She was wearing a tan colored dress which started above her cleavage and ended around knee level. "Everyone, today is December 31st, 2017 a.t.b.! For the past month we've been working hard as Student Council members to ensure that our fellow students studied for their exams. We also worked hard to make the recent Winter Festival a success." Milly said recalling all of the work that they put into the last month of the semester.

"Now that those times have gone by, we have earned ourselves a free trip to the Mt. Fuji New Years Festival! It's currently 2:01 p.m., and we will arrive at the hotel in approximately 2 hours 30 minutes. Use these 2 hours to rest up or do something productive, because the moment we arrive, you will have no time to yourself! So choose yourself a partner and choose wisely, because this person will be sitting next to you for the next 2 and a half hours!" Milly said excitedly. The 9 students, who lacked Milly's enthusiasm just murmured and looked at one another, annoying Milly to the point where she chose who sat with who.

"Since you can't choose for yourselves, I'll choose for you!" Milly yelled. She grabbed Suzaku and paired him up with Euphie. After that she paired up Nunnally with Rai. Next she put Rolo with Shirley. This left Lelouch with Kallen and Milly with Nina. Some people were happy with their partners, others were jealous, one didn't care, and one did.

Lelouch couldn't care who he sat with, since he was going to keep to himself the entire ride. Kallen on the other hand, would sit next to anyone, except Lelouch. She didn't hate Lelouch, openly. Due to his constant teasing and smart ass remarks, Kallen learned to hate Lelouch. But then again, there were times when she saw another side of him. The red haired Kallen would see on occasion how brotherly Lelouch could be and how kind he was towards his closest friends. Kallen wasn't among that circle.

And for some reason, she wanted to be. She didn't know where things went wrong between them, but Kallen hoped she could reverse their current relationship status and make it better. She was going to sit with him for almost 3 hours, so she decided why not.

The pairs all entered the bus and picked their seats. Lelouch lead Kallen towards the back and after placing his own bag into the roof compartments, he sat down, Kallen following his actions and plopping down next to him. She sighed and looked at her surroundings. The bus itself was spacious. The seats were colored black and were cushioned for comfort-ability. In the backs of the seats in front of them were trays that could be pulled down. Kallen guessed they were used for laptops and food.

She heard a click and saw Lelouch was pulling the tray down and was placing his laptop onto it, flipping it open and turning it on. "Smart move." Kallen stated.

Lelouch turned his head and gazed at her. Instead of making any smart ass comment he said, "I thought so. If I'm going to be sitting here for two hours, I might as well have a form of entertainment. And I thought using this was better than reading a book."

"But is there WiFi in this bus? If not, then all you can do is play Minesweeper for 2 hours." Kallen said. Lelouch's eyes widened and he asked out loud, "Madame President, is there WiFi on this bus?"

"Sorry, but no. Well, not for you anyway. Since you put us behind schedule by an hour, you won't be able to access the Internet Lelouch." Milly replied with a mischievous grin.

Kallen looked at Lelouch to see his reaction to her torturing him even more and could see the darkness in his heart radiating from his eyes. "You know, I could turn on my phone's HotSpot feature. That way you can go on the Internet." Kallen said pulling out her smart phone. Lelouch's expression changed in an instant and he said, "I'd appreciate that."

Kallen activated the feature on her phone and Lelouch waited for the HopSpot to appear on his laptop's screen. The HotSpot appeared and Lelouch smiled as he accessed it and then the Internet. He moved the mouse over the address bar and asked, "What do you like to watch Kallen?"

"What do you mean?" the redhead asked.

"Well, we're going to be sitting here for another 2 hours. Your phone's HotSpot is turned on, meaning it has little use for entertainment. You also didn't bring a book or anything to entertain yourself and I doubt looking out into space is entertaining. So I'm offering you the chance to watch a movie with me to pass the time." Lelouch said.

He was correct. Kallen only brought her phone as a source for entertainment and it was useless when in HotSpot mode. Meaning, in order to get to the Fiji Resort quicker. "I like watching alot of films. Just bring up a list and I'll choose from there." Kallen suggested. Lelouch went to a random movie streaming site and a list of films popped up. They were the latest films that were released that month.

"Let's see...there's that new movie about the alien knightmare frames." Lelouch said pointing at the screen. Kallen nodded her head. Lelouch scrolled down and after many movies were rejected by Kallen, they finally found the one she wanted to watch.

"Area 11? What is this even about?" Lelouch asked.

"It's about a girl rebelling against a country that took over her homeland and renamed it, Area 11. This girl follows a masked leader and after many battles, their country is restored. After the war, the girl asks her leader to reveal himself to her and he does. Then they get married and live happily ever after." Kallen said.

The idea of rebellion and battles was interesting to Lelouch, but the whole love and happy ending didn't make it seem worth watching. But instead of arguing and possibly causing the redhead to give Lelouch a black eye, he clicked on the film, inserted his headphones, handing the right one to Kallen and they watched.

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**3:59 p.m.**

So far it's only been two hours. In thirty minutes, they'd arrive at the hotel. The trip was lively at the start, but as time went on everyone got quiet. People were sleeping, reading, watching videos in silence, or whispering with their neighbor. Milly, who had fallen asleep halfway through the trip looked around her. It was dark, even out the windows. That meant that they were probably traveling inside of the underground tunnels. It was better than driving up above with the light hitting people's faces as they slept.

The blonde president of the Student Council turned her head and scanned the , who was sitting right next to her was watching a video on her laptop. Suzaku was chatting with Euphie, Lelouch's pink haired half-sister in a quiet voice. Nunnally was asleep with her head leaning on Rai's shoulder as he read a book. Rolo was playing a game on his smartphone and Shirley was looking at something intensely. Milly followed the orange haired girls gaze and her eyes fell upon what Shirley was so flustered about.

Kallen Kouzuki was fast asleep, her head leaning on the shoulder of Lelouch Lamperouge, who was also asleep, his head leaning on Kallen's head. What a cute sight, one that made Milly's heart warm. However, she knew Shirley didn't feel the same way. Then, Milly saw this as an opportunity. Shr brought out her cell phone and quickly snapped a picture of the two sleeping together.

Milly turned back around in her seat and quickly went onto the social networking app called, Red Crane. This website was highly popular in Japan and Britannia. It was the best social networking site in the world. It became so well known that the phrase, "Crane It." was born.

She clicked on the Status Update option and she started to type furiously. She put, "Lelouch Lamperouge and Kallen Kouzuki sleeping together! It seems the Dark Prince has settled with the Red Dragon." She posted the picture along with the words and posted it. Within 2 minutes, many people commented on her status and many people liked and shared it.

This was now officially school headlines. Kallen and Lelouch were dating. The picture itself was plenty of proof. Even if Milly didn't add the photo she took, many people would have still believed it.

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**4:25 p.m.**

Lelouch's eyes slowly fluttered open and when they did, his pupils quickly dilated due to the sudden burst of sunlight. Lelouch cursed slightly as he closed his eyes shut. After a couple of seconds, he reopened them and was adjusted to the light. He looked around and saw that everyone in the bus was wide awake and were chatting. To his right, Kallen was playing a game on her phone. Lelouch looked at her face and saw an expression of anger and embarrassment which was made more obvious by her reddened cheeks.

"Are you alright?" Lelouch asked the redhead. She didn't respond. Instead, he saw her eyebrows move downward causing her to look extremely pissed off. The dark haired boy decided not to bother her. Whatever happened, must have already passed, meaning that if he brought it up, she'd only get angrier.

The bus came to a halt and this caused everyone to look around. They'd arrived. Right outside was the Fuji Resort, a four star hotel famous for holding the New Years Festival each and every year alongside many other corporations.

Everyone started to stand up and get their bags from the roof compartments. The first one ready to leave the bus was Kallen. She was already walking towards the front while everyone was making sure their personal items were put safely away. Lelouch saw her storm off and he noted that he should probably see what's going on in a bit.

He stood up, retrieved his laptop and his headphones and put them away into his suitcase. Lelouch zipped it all up and put the strap over his shoulder and followed the slowly moving line consisting of his fellow council members. Lelouch could hear some conversations which consisted of words like, "I can't believe it!" or "Gino will be mad." and "He's going to regret this!". Lelouch had no idea what was going on and if everyone on the bus was talking about it, then it must have been some big online gossip about someone.

Wanting to find out what was happening, Lelouch pulled out his phone and quickly accessed the, Red Crane, application. Once he was on it, Lelouch scrolled down past many posts, but none gave off any vital information regarding what was happening. Once Lelouch stepped off of the bus, he was met by his male friends from the Student Council. Each and every single one was looking at Lelouch with a grin aside from Gino and Rolo. Rolo had the same stoic face as ever, while Gino looked slightly ticked.

Out of the small group the one with the biggest grin, Rivalz Cardemonde, walked up towards Lelouch and gave him a big pat on the back. "Congratulations Lelouch! You tamed the Red Lotus!" Rivalz exclaimed happily.

"Yeah Lelouch. Many people have tried and failed. But you did it with ease." Rai stated. Suzaku nodded and said, "Congratulations Lelouch. You can now live this new year happier than before."

"I'm sorry guys, but I don't know what you're talking about." Lelouch said. This caused the group to go into silence. Rivalz dag into his pocket and brought out his phone, making a couple of swipes and taps. Once he found whatever he was looking for, he gave Lelouch the device. On the screen was a picture. It showed Lelouch sleeping peacefully, his chin resting on the head of Kallen who was using Lelouch's right shoulder as a pillow. This image caused Lelouch to let out a gasp and he dropped Rivalz's phone out of shock.

"Hey man! You didn't have to drop my phone you know! These things are expensive!" Rivalz complained as he picked his phone up and checked for damage.

Lelouch's eyes twitched as the image was seared into his mind. He and Kallen, together. This was why she was so angry. They must have fallen asleep watching that movie, "Area 11", and somehow they got into that position. Now that the entire school knew about this, alot of people would be angry with Lelouch.

One of them was Gino. The tall blonde haired student walked up to Lelouch, anger adorning his features. He stopped only inches from Lelouch and the dark haired strategist could see that Gino's hand was rolled into a fist. He let out a sigh and brought about a smile. Gino placed his hand out towards Lelouch and said, "I guess the best man won! I can't stay mad about this forever. Kallen is only one girl. There's always more birds in the sky."

"I think the phrase is more fish in the sea." Rai stated from behind Gino.

"Well it's the same thing isn't it? You won her Lelouch, fair and square." Gino said. Lelouch, not wanting to be rude shook Gino's hand and said, "Yeah, sure."

"Now that we got that out of the way, let's go upstairs to our suite! You guys are going to love the place we booked!" Gino said as he lead his friends into the resort. The guys followed him and entered the hotel. What they didn't know was that the girls who entered before them were having a bit of a situation.

The group of 6 girls had already entered their own hotel suite and one of them was causing a racket. "WHY DID YOU TAKE THAT PICTURE?" Could be heard down the halls. If they were outside, then the whole city would have heard her screams.

"Why not take that picture?" Milly replied with a smile as she sipped from her cup of soda pop. The Student Council President was having fun. Her actions had brought about a new wave of drama sure to flow into the upcoming year.

"Why not? WHY NOT? Because people are going to be making assumptions is why not! The girls aren't going to leave me alone when we return to Ashford and the boys are going to kill Lelouch also. I could care less if he dies, but I can't take on our entire Junior class by myself! Even I have my limits!" Kallen protested. Everyone knew Kallen could fight. She was a top notch fighter, but if it was against every girl in their grade, she'd stand no chance. If it was against every girl who liked Lelouch, then she would be torn to pieces.

"I also heard that if someone fights for someone they love, than their fighting skill increases to incredible levels!" Nunnally stated. The little girl was happy for the new found love between Lelouch and Kallen. However, deep down inside she was slightly jealous. When she was younger, Nunnally wouldn't let anyone take her Lelouch away. Not even their half-sister Euphemia.

And speaking of Euphemia, she was trying her best to keep the fumed Shirley away from Kallen. "Shirley, just relax. It was a mistake. Only an accident. It won't happen again. Right Kallen?"

"Of course it won't. I'm never sitting next to Lelouch for as long as I live. I'd rather sit with a pig." Kallen stated. However, this made Shirley angrier. Having to choose between Lelouch and a pig was stupid, but picking the pig was even more stupid and this choice made Lelouch seem like one of the worst people in the world, which Shirley didn't believe was true.

"How about we just drop the subject?" Nina suggested. Everyone looked at Nina, who became uncomfortable due to all of the attention placed on her. But, everyone looked at one another and decided to end their little argument.

"She's right. We only have 3 hours and 30 minutes until the festival! So we mustn't waste any time! We all have to prepare ourselves, dress up, meet with the boys in the lobby and head over to this fabulous restaurant for dinner and then come back here to change into our kimono's for the festival!" Milly said excitedly.

"That means we only have one hour to get ready." Nina said counting on her fingers.

"That's right! So, if you're going to take showers, then do it quickly. Since there are 6 of us, 2 bathrooms, and 1 hour of time, we'll need to act quick. Nunnally, Nina, and Shirley will all go first for showers. Kallen, Euphie, and I will go last. Everyone must take at the most, 10 minutes for a shower and 10 minutes to do your hair. Makeup will be done in the rooms and so will dressing up!" Milly said. With that, everyone sprung into action to dress their best for their upcoming dinner.

The exact same things were happening in the boy's suite which was down the hall by 3 doors. However, the guys did their process during the last 30 minutes. Inside, everyone was walking slowly. The boys didn't have to worry about much like girls did. Things like makeup and hair weren't factors with males. All the boys had to do were wet their hair with shampoo and conditioner using the sinks and the shower heads. After they went through the wetting, applying, lathering, and drying process, they'd proceed to comb their hair or gel it. Gino liked to gel it, unlike everyone else in the room.

After the hair process, the guys would put on deodorant and then cologne or body spray and sometimes both. After that, the guys would put on their carefully laid out clothing. With 10 minutes to spare, the guys left their suite and started to walk towards the lobby to wait.

Lelouch was wearing a very detailed suit. He wore a white shirt with the top being unbuttoned down to his collar bone. The jacket over that was black with silver lining along the edges. The lining would branch off into a dragon design around the front of the jacket where the buttons met. He also wore black slacks with the shiniest dress up shoes anyone had ever seen.

Suzaku was wearing a white suit, in opposite fashion to Lelouch. He was wearing a black shirt, buttoned all the way to his neck with a gold lining up the buttons and up to the neck. His coat was plain white, aside from the gold lining along the edge. On his hands were black gloves. He was wearing white trousers and black shoes. He appeared to be a formal version of the famous, Knights of the Round.

Rai was wearing a plain white tee shirt with a jacket over it that had a dark blue tint that was unbuttoned. He was wearing gray denim jeans and his gray high top sneakers. Despite this informality, he appeared well dressed for the occasion.

Gino was wearing a black long sleeved shirt that was buttoned up to his collar bone with the collar being popped up. Around his neck was a gold necklace with the Knights of the Round pendant hanging from it. He was wearing white slacks and black shoes like Suzaku.

Rolo was donning a brownish colored suit. He was wearing a white shirt underneath his tan colored jacket. He was wearing brown slacks with brown hue shoes. On his head was a brown beret which, despite not being his style, looked fantastic.

Rivalz was wearing a full grey suit, with a white buttoned shirt underneath his jacket and a rose in his hand. Rivalz was smiling and was very giddy as they waited for the girls arrival.

"What's up with you Rivalz?" Rai asked.

"I'm just nervous. Today's the day I'm going to ask Madam President out. I need to, before it's too late." Rivalz stated. "Before what is too late?" Gino asked.

"Before I explode! I need to use the bathroom so badly, but I won't go until they get down here." Rivalz said complaining.

"Just go. We've been here for 5 minutes already. They won't be down for another 5. So just go as quickly as possible. Here, I'll hold your rose for you until you get back." Rai said extending his hand. Rivalz thought about it, but he couldn't wait another second, so he gave up the red flower and made a dash for the public restrooms.

Less than a minute later, the girls appeared, walking out of the elevator.

"It seems Rivalz has terrible luck." Lelouch said as they watched the girls walk towards them. Each and every one of them were dressed in the appropriate clothing.

Milly wore a tight white dress that started at her collarbone and came down to her waist. After that it expanded and came down around her legs, ending at her knees. It had white ruffles on the edge at the bottom. Her shoulders were bare and her arms were covered with elbow high gloves. She was wearing white sandals on her feet as well.

The girl standing next to her was Shirley whom had her hair tied in a ponytail. The orange haired girl was wearing a green colored dress, which started above her cleavage. It went down and gradually flowed into a big dress, ending at her shins with a white lining at the edge that had a green hue. Shirley also appeared taller thanks to her white high heels. Her neck was wearing a necklace given to her by Lelouch for her birthday. It was a golden butterfly with a gold chain.

After Shirley was Nina. The green haired genius had her hair up in a smaller ponytail than Shirley. She was wearing a pink dress that started at her neck and ran down to her mid thigh. It had long sleeves and on the edges of the sleeves and the bottom of the dress were white ruffles. She also wore white boots that ended at her shins.

Euphemia who was walking behind Nina came into full view and the boys were surprised be her choice of clothing. She was wearing a short black dress that ended in black ruffles above her knees. She was also wearing black high heels and her hair was in a ponytail, similar to Shirley.

Following Euphie was Nunnally, who was wearing a single piece dress that was white with a pink tint. It dipped down above her cleavage and returned back down to her shoulders. The sleeves were long with loose ends around her wrist. The dress was tight fitting until it ended above her knees. Down the front of the dress, was a white strip with red lining which had a red bow on top to where the dress started below Nunnally's collar bone.

The last person to exit the elevator was the red haired, blue eyes, Kallen Kouzuki. Her hair was combed down, which was odd since it was usually spiked up in the back. Her dress was similar to Nunnally's, but was completely a light shade of scarlet. The dress was tightened around her upper body, showing off her curves. The upper part displayed her bust in similar fashion to Nunnally, however, she lacked the sleeves completely, meaning that was the top of the dress.

The men were in awe at their beauty. As they approached, the girls noticed that Rai had the rose in his hand. Milly approached him and asked, "Who's the flower for?"

"For you Milly. Riv-"

"Aww! For me? You shouldn't have Rai! That's so sweet!" Milly exclaimed accepting the flower and wrapping her arm around Rai's.

"Actually it wasn't from me-"

"Hey where's Rivalz?" Shirley asked, noticing he wasn't present.

"Oh he's in the restroom freshening up. He'll be here in a bit. Actually there he is now." Lelouch said pointing at Rivalz who was dashing back across the lobby towards them.

"Alright. Let's get going everyone! The limo is waiting!" Milly said leading the group towards the front doors, Rai still stuck around her arm. The sight of Rai and Milly together made Rivalz depressed, but once he saw the ride they were going in, his happiness shot right back up.

The limousine was colored black and wasn't the normal ride. It was actually an SUV model from the, Logres company. Along the outside were green neon lights, which were a reference to the green flotation systems used by the Logres Class battleships Britannia uses. Once inside, the entire Student Council was astonished. The seats were leather, there was a mini-bar. Lights were placed along the roof, there was a flat screen television in the back of the limo and music could be heard from the giant speakers.

The bass was bumping and the whole crew was getting into the groove. Even Rolo and Nina were having a blast. Despite them being underage, Milly passed out drinks to everyone, minus Nunnally. The drinks weren't hardcore liquor, but champagne from Britannia called, Pen's Dragon. Music played and everyone was having a great time. But what they didn't know, was that tonight was more special than it seemed.

* * *

**Ikaruga Class Battleship, , United States of Japan**

**6:00 p.m.**

Today was December 31st, 2017 a.t.b. It was New Years Eve. A special day with festivals all over Japan. People were taking days off to be with family and friends. Parties were being held. It was a fun day. Not for the Black Knights. This powerful military organization wasn't having a good day. Today was the day that the _Fuji 2015X-001 Asteroid_ was coming into close proximity with the Earth.

Thanks to years of research, the bearing and trajectory of this giant hunk of space rock was found out and the percentage of it entering the Earth's atmosphere was at 79%. And if it did enter the atmosphere, it would fall towards Mt. Fuji, Japan.

After 2 years of research, a countermeasure plan was created by their leader, Zero. The goal was to destroy the asteroid and it's many fragments before they fell over Mt. Fuji. Using the Ikaruga's new Bow Mounted Hadron Scatter Cannons, it would be able to destroy most of the falling debris. However, after that, it would be up to the combined efforts of the Black Knights and volunteer Britannian forces.

The Holy Empire of Britannia offered to help destroy the asteroid and sent out multiple knightmare frames to assist. Among them were the experimental Gareth's, and long range Sutherlands. The Black Knights had the mass produced Gekka's, the Gekka Radiant Type, the Zangetsu, and the Gawain.

The combined efforts of all of these machines was calculated to be enough to destroy at least 87% of the falling debris. 87% was better than nothing. Currently the Ikaruga was floating over the mountain named, Fuji, and was on standby. In approximately 5 hours the asteroid would enter Earth's atmosphere. It would take less than an hour for the rock to impact with Earth. That meant that they'd have to destroy it within the hour, when people were counting down to the New Year. What they didn't understand was they might be counting down their deaths.

In the ship's hangars, the Ace of the Black Knights was overlooking the upgrades to his knightmare the, Type-3F Gekka Radiant Type. It was a blue colored customized version of the mass produced, Type-3F Gekka. This machine had equipped experimental technology. Using the brand new Radiation Wave Surger, this knightmare confirmed the effectiveness of the weapon, which was to be put into a newer custom model called the Type-02 Guren .

As the Ace of the Black Knights saw the machine being fixed up for the coming operation, a familiar voice called out his name.

"Yo Naoto!"

The dark red haired male turned around and saw his friends, Shinichiro Tamaki and Kaname Ohgi walking towards him. Tamaki was a fellow knightmare frame pilot, but his skills weren't top notch. Ohgi was Naoto's closest friend who was the General Secretary of the Black Knights. His two friends came over and Tamaki appeared like he had a secret to be told.

"What's going on?" Naoto asked.

"You won't believe what I just saw. I was checking my Red Crane during lunch and I saw this post from one of Kallen's hot friends. It was a picture of Kallen sleeping next to some boy." Tamaki said, handing his phone to Naoto. The news shocked Naoto and when he saw the picture, his face became dark and his grip on the phone tightened.

"Naoto? Are you okay?" Ohgi asked, noticing the evil in his best friends expression. With one quick and swift movement, Naoto threw the cellular device across the hangar at one of the walls. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT GIRL'S PROBLEM? SLEEPING WITH BOYS AND POSTING IT ON RED CRANE? WHAT IS SHE? A WHORE? I SPECIFICALLY TOLD HER TO NEVER DO THIS SHIT AND YET SHE DOES SO ANYWAY! I'M GOING TO KICK HER-NO...I'm going to kill that boy with my own hands!" Naoto yelled as he stomped around the hangar. His voice echoed throughout the room, gaining the attention of the mechanics and researchers, but they decided to ignore his outburst.

"Naoto, calm down. This has got to be some prank or something. You and I know Kallen too well to just do that sort of thing. Listen, after the operation, we'll talk to her about this guy. We need to know the full story first. If it is what you believe it is, then you can do what you like. But we've got to be rational about this. We're Black Knights for crying out loud!" Ohgi said as he tried calming his friend down.

Naoto sighed and said, "Yeah...I guess you're right. Doing such a thing could get me kicked from the Black Knights. That's the last thing I want. But I'm going to kick his ass either way. Nobody, messes with Kallen!" Naoto said with aggressiveness in his voice.

* * *

**Fuji Grand Buffet, , United States of Japan**

**7:23 p.m.**

"Man I'm stuffed." Rivalz said as he leaned back in his seat. The entire Student Council agreed with his statement. They were all sitting at a round table with plates of food sitting before them. The council had taken a trip to the Fuji Grand Buffet, a fancy restaurant famous for it's stomach filling meals. Everyone was full, even those who didn't eat that much.

Lelouch drank the rest of his iced water and checked the time on his watch. In half an hour the festival would start. "Madame President, it starts in half an hour." Lelouch said.

"Oh no. I wanted to participate in the festival too, but my stomach is so full." Milly said as she patted and rubbed her belly as if she was pregnant.

"You know what we could do? We could return the hotel, rest for an hour and head out to the festival at around 9. That way we won't be extremely late AND we'll have empty stomachs. Sound like a plan?" Rai asked as he looked around the table. Everybody nodded in agreement as they slowly stood up.

Lelouch looked over at Suzaku and eyed the bill sitting in the middle of the table. The brown haired boy understood what Lelouch was trying to say. To get out of there so they wouldn't have to pay the bill. Suzaku followed Lelouch's lead and left the restaurant. Rai noticed this and he signaled Gino to do the same. This left the girls and Rivalz with the bill.

"Oh those guys. How rude. Leaving us to pay the bill like that." Shirley said angrily. Rivalz had barely noticed their absence and tried to follow suit, but he was forced down by Kallen and the girls made a dash towards the door. Sighing, the indigo haired boy paid the bill and left the restaurant in a sad slump.

Once outside, he saw everyone was laughing. This caused Rivalz to become slightly annoyed. "That's so messed up you guys. That bill costed 200 dollars."

"Don't worry Rivalz. We'll make it up to you when we get back to the hotel." Lelouch said smiling. The guys agreed, not knowing what Lelouch had in mind, but they felt that Rivalz had earned himself a reward for paying the bill.

* * *

**Fuji Resort, Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

**8:39 p.m.**

"So how are you going to make it up?" Rivalz asked as he entered the living room from one of the bedrooms, where he was laying down for the past hour. Lelouch was laying on one of the couches watching T.V. with Suzaku and Gino. Rivalz's appearance reminded Lelouch of his promise and he thought hard about what to do for Rivalz.

"Hmm...I could...how about we get you on a date? With Milly?" Lelouch suggested. It was the first thing to pop into Lelouch's mind and he knew it was something Rivalz would like.

"How?"

"We could...well...Suzaku? Gino? Any ideas?" Lelouch asked trying to get some back up.

Suzaku thought about it for a while and Gino came up with an idea on the spot.

"I got it! You could ask her out when the fireworks start! It'd be really romantic! Give her a bunch of flowers too! Since Rai gave her the rose that you wanted to give to her, you'd have to get something else, like dandelions." Gino said. This idea seemed pretty good and Lelouch and Suzaku agreed with it. They handed Rivalz some 20 dollar bills since he was flat broke because of the bill and he went off to prepare the plan.

Lelouch checked the time on his watch and saw it was 15 minutes to 9. "Guys, we need to get ready for the festival. Come on, let's get going." Lelouch said slowly getting out of his comfortable position. The guys all went to their rooms and got the gifts Milly gave them for the festival. Each and every person in the Student Council were given kimonos, traditional Japanese clothing for the festival, since it was tradition to do so during festivals like this one. Every person had their own kimono that matched the wearers personality.

Lelouch's for instance, was black with gold lining. Suzaku's was white with gold lining as well. Gino's was white with red lining. Rai's was white with blue lining. Rolo's was gold with red lining and Rivalz's was grey with black lining. The boy's, all dressed up and smelling good walked out of their suite and headed towards the lobby. Once the elevator doors opened, they saw all of the girls were there, waiting for them to arrive.

Milly's kimono was turquoise with white lining all around. Nina's was green with white. Euphie's kimono was pink with white. Nunnally's was white with pink. Shirley's was orange with white. Kallen's was crimson with orange.

"Finally! Took you guys long enough. Now that you're here, let's get going! We've got games to play, food to eat, and fireworks to watch!" Milly exclaimed as she led them all into the festival. Outside of the resort along the streets were multiple booths with games being played, food being sold, and shows being watched.

Lelouch and Rolo were being dragged by Nunnally and Shirley to go and play games. Suzaku was being dragged by Euphemia to get something to eat, while Milly, Nina, Rai, and Rivalz all looked for something interesting. It was around 9 and the fireworks started at midnight. That gave them 3 hours to do anything they wanted.

* * *

**Ikaruga, Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

**11:17 p.m.**

"All forces launch!" The order was being broadcast all over the ship as the operation went into phase 1. The goal of this operation was to destroy the incoming asteroid. In order for this mission to go off without any hiccups or failures, they would have to launch each phase with precision timing.

"All squadrons both Britannian and Japanese will enter a high altitude of 50 kilometers and stabilize. The Ikaruga will fire off it's Hadron Cannons upon the incoming asteroid when it reaches 70 kilometers. After that it's up to your skill and accuracy to shoot down the incoming fragments. I know you will succeed." Zero said over the mics of each and every knightmare pilot.

"Here it comes. It's at 100..."

"90"

"80"

"70! Fire the Hadron Cannons!"

The Ikaruga was pointing up into the sky and the Hadron Cannons had been charging for 15 minutes. The asteroid was locked on and the beams were ready to fire. The Hadron Cannons shot off two beams of black and red energy into the sky. The beams themselves weren't going straight at the asteroid, which was predicted. Gekka's with Gefjun Disturbers helped aim the beams at the asteroid to ensure the target was hit.

The beams collided with the incoming space rock. Upon first glance it didn't seem to do anything, but the commanders on board the Ikaruga and in the knightmares zoomed in and saw cracks and tiny explosions on the asteroid, until finally, a chain reaction occurred. All around the asteroid, explosions were seen as the asteroid heated up and broke into pieces.

This signaled the second phase.

Each and every knightmare frame in the sky shot off their weapons upon the incoming fragments. Missiles, bullets, Hadron beams, chaos grenades, and even the Radiant Wave Surger were used upon the Fuji fragments. This barrage of space rocks fell down upon the Earth.

"Keep firing! We are almost done here. Just hold out a bit longer!" Zero yelled as he fired off his knightmare's Hadron Cannons at the fragments and pieces of the Fuji Asteroid.

"Zero! There are too many fragments! They're getting past us!" Kyoshiro Tohdoh yelled as he sliced through another fragment with his Zangetsu's brake sword.

"I can see that! Ikaruga! Fire missiles at the falling debris. Don't fire the cannons though. We can't risk having misfires and hitting civilians!" Zero ordered as he grappled a rock with his machine's finger mounted slash harkens and threw it back at another falling rock.

Following orders, the Ikaruga fired off multiple missiles at the falling rocks. But, something unexpected occurred. From down below, the fireworks for the festival started and they were not only helping get rid of the smaller fragments, but they were destroying some of the missiles sent to destroy them in the first place.

* * *

**Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

**11:36 p.m.**

"Why are the fireworks going off this early? It's not even close to New Years yet." Lelouch said as he saw the fireworks go off.

"I guess they're leading up to the big ones." Suzaku said as he stood side by side with Lelouch. The two boys were watching as Nunnally and Euphemia competed with one another for a giant teddy bear. Lelouch didn't understand why they'd compete if he could always buy one for the loser.

He pushed the thought away and told Suzaku, "I'll be back. I'm going to go look for a spot. There must be some hills nearby, so we can sit and watch the fireworks when they actually start." Lelouch said walking off.

"I'll go with you!" Suzaku said running off to join his friend. "Why? Isn't Euphie going to get upset?" Lelouch asked.

"Probably. But I think doing this would make it up to her." Suzaku stated as they left the main road and entered the wilderness. After 10 minutes of walking, the two boys found a spot. It was a wide and open hill with a clear view of the mountain and the festival. It was perfect. Now all they needed to do was gather their friends to this hill and everything would go perfectly.

However, Lelouch felt a presence. He knew they weren't alone and he nodded towards Suzaku. Apparently he noticed it as well. Then the sound of a branch snapping in two put Suzaku into action. "Who's there?" the brown haired boy asked.

From the trees came along a white haired boy and a red haired girl.

"Rai? Kallen?"

"Suzaku? Lelouch? What are you two doing here?" Rai asked as he and Kallen walked towards them.

"I should be asking you that. We're looking for a spot to watch the fireworks." Lelouch explained.

"We were with Milly in the woods and we got separated. I'm guessing she returned to the festival. We're still trying to get back down there." Rai said.

"Well how about we just sit here and wait for the fireworks. I'll call Euphie and tell her where to find us." Suzaku said pulling his phone from his kimono's breast pocket. However, when he pressed 'Dial' he heard nothing but static.

"What's going on? I should have service in this area." Suzaku said as he messed with his phone's settings.

"What? No signal?" Kallen asked.

"No I have a signal, but I hear static when I call someone. It's weird, like some interference." Suzaku explained.

Then they heard it. The sounds of explosions. Somebody could mistake it for a firework, but that wasn't it. It was much louder and more powerful than any firework. The group of 4 people looked up towards the sky, where the source of the sound was. Up above, a fireball was disappearing. In and out of the e, explosions were seen as well as mechanisms flying into and out of the firework display.

"What the hell? Is it terrorists?" Suzaku asked as he looked at the sky.

"No. Those aren't targeting the people. It must be the Black Knights." Lelouch said.

Then another explosion was seen, this time it was far closer than before. From the receding fireball, multiple projectiles were fired. One of them, was headed towards the hill they were standing on.

"Oh no. Run!" Rai yelled as he started to sprint away from the hill. The others had the same idea and they followed his lead, Rai in the front, Suzaku and Kallen close behind, but Lelouch was in the back, due to his lack of physical strength. His breathing was heavy as he pushed himself to run faster and faster, far beyond his usual limit. If it was to stay alive, he'd do it with determination.

Then it hit. The projectile impacted with the ground. It slammed into the hill, right where they had been previously standing. The force and the impact sent out a shock wave of energy, which caused multiple trees to sway, some to collapse, and caused Lelouch to trip and fall into the ground.

The force wasn't enough to cause Lelouch to break any bones, but his hands and feet were scraped and small drops of blood were coming from the bruises. Lelouch got up from the ground and prepared to start running off again, but he saw his shadow extending from his feet and towards where Rai, Kallen, and Suzaku were standing. A light was causing this shadow and it was behind him.

The dark haired student turned around and looked at the crater of whatever it was that fell into the hill. A bright light was illuminating from the source of the crater. And for some odd reason, Lelouch couldn't help but walk towards it. Rai, Kallen, and Suzaku would have protested at his action, but they were just as shocked and as curious as he was, so they copied his actions and neared the impact zone.

Once Lelouch was standing at the top of the crater he saw that it wasn't as deep as he expected. Inside of it was a rock. A lone steaming meteorite.

"What the hell? Did a meteor just fall here?" Suzaku asked when he came to Lelouch's side.

"No. It came from the explosion in the sky. It must just be a fragment." Rai stated.

"That explains why the military would be here." Kallen said.

"Yeah...but why wasn't this made public? I thought Zero would be smart enough to evacuate the citizens at least. So why didn't he?" Lelouch asked. Then something strange happened. The rock started to glow a bright turquoise light and a small white wave appeared from it, engulfing the four students in the growing orb of light. In their minds and in their bodies they felt pain. A searing and burning feeling that you would only feel if on fire. The screams and yells that came from them were muted. No matter how hard they tried to yell, they heard nothing.

Finally, into the foreheads of each and everyone of them, a mark was carved. It was a red sigil of a bird. This sigil was glowing red as it became forever a part of their bodies. Finally, this light ended it's existence and all that remained in it's place were 4 people, the same people as before except on their heads was a symbol.

A symbol of mythological power. A symbol of strength. The symbol of the Energy Bearers.

* * *

**How was it? It took me a good 2-3 days to do, but in reality it was like 15+ hours. This took a long time to make and this was the first story I started out with such a long chapter. 10,000 words all in one chapter. Not much action, I admit, but it's the beginning of a new series!**

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review on what you think about this story and what will happen!**


	2. Stage 2: Discovery

**Hello Everyone!**** Sorry for the major delay, but just so you know, this story is not on hiatus and it will not be unless I run out of ideas which is unlikely. So thanks for being patient up until now!**

* * *

**December 31st, 2017 a.t.b.**

**Fuji Resort, Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

**11:55 p.m.**

The blue colored Type-3F Gekka Radiant Type was continuing it's attack upon the incoming asteroid fragments. They've been at it for almost 30 minutes and the early release of fireworks wasn't helping either. Midnight was soon upon them and according to the Ikaruga, at least 9% of the fragments had fallen past their barrier.

"Dammit! How much longer?" Naoto asked as he shot off another blast of his Radiation Wave Surger, which was running low on ammo after extensive use against the incoming asteroid pieces.

"Just another 5 minutes. After that, our operation will be complete and you'll be able to return to the Ikaruga." the bridge's radar operator, Ichijiku Hinata stated. Naoto scowled, but at least the falling rain of rocks was close to ending. After this, he'd head back home and hang out with his younger sister Kallen. And after that, kick the ass of whoever was sleeping next to her in the picture Tamaki showed him earlier.

"Captain Kouzuki! We have a situation! There seems to be unknowns entering our operation zone! There are four of them Captain!" one of his squadrons pilots informed him. Naoto expanded his radar from a horizontal view to a vertical one and saw that indeed, 4 targets were headed towards them from below.

"Unknowns huh? Well since the number of fragments has reduced, I'll look into it. Keep destroying those rocks!" Naoto ordered before pulling off and flying towards the incoming targets. Once he had them on screen, he saw that these 4 were to small and much to quick to be knightmare frames. However, his machine didn't recognize them as missiles or planes.

"What the? I don't know who or what these things are, but I'll have to destroy them. They're interfering with a Black Knight operation!" Naoto yelled as he aimed his machine's right arm mounted machine gun at the incoming targets and started to open fire. His barrage of bullets filled the sky as they flew towards the unknowns.

The 4 incoming unknowns could only be identified as orbs of light, based on their appearance. Each was a different color. The lead was violet colored, the two behind it were green and red while the one in the rear of the diamond shaped formation was blue.

Naoto's bullets flew straight at the lead, but they seemed to bounce off like they didn't exist. Then, the violet light sped up and attacked Naoto's knightmare. "What the? What is this thing?" Naoto asked as he dodged the incoming orb which seemed to be using kamikaze tactics against Naoto by flying straight into his machine, but luckily, Naoto wasn't a rookie. Being in the Black Knights for 2 years gave him plenty of experience in using knightmares.

The violet light sped past Naoto and flew towards the Black Knight Gekka's and the Britannian Sutherlands which were firing upon the falling fragments. The light flew straight through a Sutherland and came out of the other side as if nothing had happened. Naoto saw this and he noticed that the orb of light, whatever it really was, had cut through the machine without stopping or slowing down. Instead, it actually sped up before impact with the Britannian knightmare. The sudden, 'Lost', signal appeared on the Ikaruga's bridge which shocked those located there.

"What the? How could a knightmare be destroyed by such small fragments. Unless something else is out there. Kouzuki! What the hell is going on?" Zero asked from his knightmare, the Gawain. This black and golden machine was a state of the art knightmare which was given to Zero by the Holy Britannian Empire and their Prime Minister, Schneizel el Britannia. This machine was the ultimate knightmare which was unbeatable in battle. Until now.

"Zero! There seems to be 4 orbs of light attacking our forces! I don't know what they are exactly, but they destroyed one of the Sutherlands!" Naoto replied as he chased after the blue light.

"Orbs of light? Very well then. All forces, refocus your attacks upon the 4 unknowns that have entered our operation zone and have interrupted our mission! Destroy or capture them! The choice is yours!" Zero yelled through his mic. With that, the Gekkas and Sutherlands started to chase the 4 orbs of light.

The blue one, which was being chased by Naoto, had turned around after a failed attempt at evading it's chaser. The blue light sped towards the blue Gekka in similar fashion to the violet light leading it. However, Naoto activated his Radiation Wave Surger upon the unknown. The sudden burst of heat caused the light to redirect its path around the Gekka and attack from behind.

"What the? How did it get there so quickly?" Naoto asked as he tried to turn his machine around to attack it once more. However, this blue one destroyed one of the four flotation wings attached to the Gekka. It then proceeded to cut through another wing and then finally, destroy the Radiation Surger of the Gekka, all by flying through these parts.

"How is that possible?" Naoto asked as his machine floated in midair without it's main weapon and with half of it's flotation unit gone.

"All forces retreat! We have to pull back. So far we've lost 10% of our forces to these lights. Come back now!" Zero's voice ordered, his voice ringing in the ears of all pilots both Japanese and Britannian. Following the order, all of the Sutherlands and Gekkas retreated to the Ikaruga which began it's retreat to the Tokyo Settlement.

According to the radar in both the Ikaruga and the Gawain, the 4 orbs of light disappeared just as quickly as they had came.

* * *

**January 1st, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

Lelouch's violet eyes fluttered open, but they quickly shut themselves in pain. Lelouch groaned as he heard a ringing in his ears and he felt a searing pain in the back of his mind. Lelouch's eyelids slowly lifted and his pupils dilated at the sudden exposure to sunlight. Lelouch grunted as he shut his eyes once more and slowly opened them in order to adjust to the intense light.

Lelouch noticed he was staring up at a tree and that the intense sunlight was coming down through the branches and leaves and onto his face. The dark haired male was curious. Why was he outside? How did he end up under a tree? Wasn't he supposed to be at the hotel?

Lelouch sat up and surveyed the surrounding area. He was in the wilderness. He saw grass, flowers, trees, and he could hear the sound of animals all about. However, that wasn't the important part. Lelouch noticed lastly that he was in a hole.

Lelouch got up onto his feet and after shrugging off a minor headache from standing up too quickly, he noticed that he wasn't lying in a hole. It was a crater.

"What the hell?" Lelouch said aloud as he studied the hole. It looked as if it had just been created by a meteor or something similar. But if that were true, there would be a smoking rock laying in the crater and not himself.

Lelouch looked down at himself and noticed his clothes were ripped up. The ends of his clothes seemed to have been burned off. His long sleeves were reduced to much shorter ones that reached his biceps. The lower part of his kimono was missing and all that remained was the part that covered the torso and the tight black briefs Lelouch was wearing. Aside from that the color went from black and gold to an ashy black.

"What happened last night?" Lelouch asked as he started to walk towards where he believed the city was. However, he found someone he recognized. He found a brown haired male named, Suzaku Kururugi laying in a crater, similar to the one Lelouch landed in.

"Suzaku?" Lelouch asked, hoping his friend would wake up and shed some light on the situation. However, Lelouch's best friend stayed quiet. Lelouch tried calling out to his friend again, hoping this time he'd awaken. But the result was the same. Lelouch was getting impatient so he got into the small crater and crouched down next to Suzaku's dormant body.

Lelouch put his hand up against Suzaku's neck, feeling for a pulse. He felt the beating of Suzaku's heart and smiled knowing his friend wasn't dead. Now he had to wake him up. Lelouch reached back and slapped Suzaku across the face, leaving a red hand print as well as waking him up. Suzaku's eyes opened up and he yelled out in pain as he instinctively reached up to his stinging cheek.

"Ahh!" Suzaku yelled in pain.

"Good, you're awake. Come on, let's get going." Lelouch said as he climbed out of the hole. Suzaku looked up at Lelouch with a confused and angry expression. Lelouch saw this and with a sigh he said, "Suzaku, I'll explain on the way, let's go."

The brown haired boy decided not to argue and he got out of the hole and followed Lelouch.

"So what the hell is going on?" Suzaku asked curious as to why he was slapped by Lelouch in the wilderness.

"I don't know. But I think we got so drunk last night that we ended up in the wilderness in slightly burned clothes." Lelouch stated.

"I doubt that. Lelouch, we didn't drink last night." Suzaku said.

"That's what I thought, but I don't remember a thing. All I remember is coming out to the woods to see the fireworks. After that I woke up here in a hole to find that my kimono was burned up and you were in the same situation." Lelouch said.

"You've got a good point, but I remember something from last night." Suzaku replied. Lelouch stopped in his tracks and turned around to face his green eyed friend. "Really? What happened last night?" Lelouch asked, wanting to see what Suzaku could recall.

"We went to the forest to see the fireworks. We ran into Kallen and Rai. After that the fireworks started and then something crashed into the hill we were standing on. That's it." Suzaku said. Lelouch started to think and his memories from last night's events started to flow into his mind.

"Yeah you're correct. But after that is what we need to find out. We also need to find Kallen and Rai. Maybe they know what happened." Lelouch said. Before Suzaku could reply, an ear splitting scream filled the sky.

"What was that?" Lelouch asked as he turned towards the source of the sound.

"I don't know, but let's go check it out." Suzaku said running towards the screams origin.

"Suzaku wait! Why do you always try to be a hero?" Lelouch asked as he followed Suzaku's lead. After running for a couple of minutes, they reached a waterfall. However, the spectacular sight wasn't what shocked them. They saw a familiar redhead standing inside of a hole, similar to the ones Lelouch and Suzaku found themselves in.

"Kallen?" Lelouch yelled out trying to catch her attention. She turned around and saw the two boys and she screamed as she tried to hide herself.

"What's going on?" Suzaku asked.

"Don't come any closer! I mean it! Stay where you are!" Kallen replied as she tried to stay away from their line of vision. Lelouch thought this was a waste of time and he continued to walk towards her.

"Kallen, whatever's wrong, we can help. Just come on out of there so we can get out of this place and go back to the resort." Lelouch said. Kallen wanted to protest, but it wouldn't matter. Lelouch was already within an extremely close line of vision, meaning he could see her no matter what.

Lelouch stopped in his tracks as a blush slowly, but surely crept onto his face. Lelouch's throat started to dry up and he felt his heart beating quicker. From Suzaku's position, Lelouch could be seen taking off the remains of his kimono and passing it to Kallen who was doing her beast to hide. After a couple of minutes, Kallen exited the hole she was in wearing Lelouch's kimono over her upper body. Her lower body was covered by panties that were still barely intact.

Suzaku walked towards them and said, "Alright, Kallen, why did you scream?" Kallen pointed into the hole and Suzaku and Lelouch's gaze moved from Kallen to the crater. Inside of the hole, a white haired boy could be seen, lying face down. It was Rai. His clothes were intact, except for the torso. On his back, everyone saw that along his back were two long bumps. They were located along the scapula and the skin was colored red.

It looked like his shoulder blades had grown in size and were trying to rip through his skin. Lelouch was shocked, Kallen was horrified, and Suzaku was sickened. Whatever happened to Rai, needed medical attention immediately.

"Rai? Rai!" Lelouch called out. The white haired boy moaned as his body started to shift. His eyes slowly opened and Rai groaned as he started to stand up. Rai yawned as he turned around to see his three friends standing there in shock as he woke up, oblivious to his surroundings.

"What's going on?" Rai asked.

"We need to get moving, now." Lelouch said as he turned around to walk towards where he thought civilization was located. As they followed the dark haired males lead, Rai asked, "Why is Lelouch in his underwear?"

"Don't worry about it. We'll explain later." Suzaku said as they walked towards what they hoped was the path to the resort and out of the wild.

After half an hour of walking, the group of four decided to take a small break. Lelouch was annoyed that they hadn't reached the resort yet, Suzaku was disappointed that Lelouch didn't lead them home, Kallen was embarrassed that she was in a small amount of clothing with three hormone driven teenage boys, and Rai was curious as to how this all happened.

The one thing everyone was currently sharing was that they weren't in the best of moods.

"Dammit. I don't know what the hell happened last night, but how is it that we ended up a million miles away from the resort?" Rai asked out of anger and stress.

"I don't know how we ended up out here. All I know is that we're getting closer. It's not like we can't see the mountain. It's right there. We've gotten significantly closer since we've started. Meaning we're much closer to the resort than before." Lelouch replied.

"Yeah, but we haven't seen anything for the past half hour except for trees. I wish we could fly or at least have our phones so we can call Milly for help." Rai said with a sigh.

"Well wishing isn't the same as walking. Come on, let's get moving." Suzaku said as he stood up from his seat on the grass. The others followed suit and they walked towards the mountain as they have been. In their minds everyone hoped that they did have the ability to fly.

And this wish was already granted. But the process was a painful one. Rai let out painful scream and he collapsed to the ground and landed on his knees. Everyone else turned around and came to his aid, asking what was wrong.

However, his only response was another scream. He pounded his fists onto the ground and the others saw what was happening to him. Rai's shoulder blades were moving and his skin was reddening. Lelouch grabbed hold of his friend and held him down.

"Suzaku! Help me!" Lelouch said as he struggled to keep his friend from moving too much. Suzaku assisted him and they watched as his skin started to rip and his bones started to move.

"AGHHHH! AGGHHHHHHHH!" Rai yelled out as he struggled against his friends. The pain was immense. Unimaginable. A bone ripping through skin slowly was a feeling nobody could imagine. Not even me as I write this.

But the sight itself was unimaginable as well. Skin tissue, muscle, bone, and blood was seen. Something like this was only seen on the battlefield or on the internet where terrorist groups and cartels would post videos of them chopping off heads with chainsaws and machetes.

The white bone finally poked through the skin and the result was Rai's screaming getting louder and his pain increasing to high levels. The bone continued to peak out, growing in size until it poked out of his body like an appendage. It then proceeded to bend like an appendage at one point, like an arm did at the elbow. It bent downward like a wing and it stopped in it's tracks.

Lelouch diverted his attention down towards where the bone came out of. The skin which was bleeding and the skin that had turned red was healing itself. The skin which was like the skin of a peeled banana was curling back down around the bone and was returning back to it's original form.

"How is that possible?" asked Lelouch as this miracle occurred before his own eyes.

"I-I don't know." Kallen stammered. Everyone was shocked at what had just happened. Rai had just grown wings and then his skin healed itself as if he had healing powers.

However, the process wasn't complete. The bone started to grow muscle and instead of skin, an organic metallic compound began to form around it. This metal completely covered the wing and after it took it's place, the process was complete.

Rai's agony subsided and Lelouch let go of him as did Suzaku. Lelouch stood up and Suzaku fell back and sat down in amazement at what had just happened. Kallen fell to her knees in shock. Rai had just went through a genetic mutation of extraordinary proportions.

One question went through Lelouch's mind. How did this happen and was Rai the only one?

* * *

**Ikaruga, Shinjuku Air Base, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

Captain Naoto Kouzuki had just been given permission to leave the Infirmary that he had entered the night before. After the incident with the four unknowns last night, Zero ordered Naoto Kouzuki to spend the night healing up. He didn't want his top ace to be incapable of using a knightmare, especially with the current situation with the unknowns.

The dark red haired pilot walked towards the hangar to oversee the repairs of his machine. However, he ran into his friends Kaname Ohgi and Shinichiro Tamaki.

"Naoto. Are you okay?" Tamaki asked. Ever since last night's events, there was a rumor that Naoto was severely injured. There were also rumors that the 'Ace' of the Black Knights had lost his skill.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about a thing." Naoto replied. "If you two don't mind, I have to go check up on my knightmare."

"Alright, but we came here to tell you something. Kallen's friends have notified your mother that Kallen never came back to the hotel they were staying at. And neither did three other of their friends." Ohgi stated.

Naoto's face turned red. There could only be two possible explanations as to what happened. Explanation one is that she went missing because of the meteor shower last night. However, explanation two which in Naoto's mind was the most likely explanation, the dark haired boy took Kallen and was doing lord knows what.

With the look of a serial killer on his face, Naoto turned on his heel and started to walk away. Ohgi recognized that face. Naoto had a habit of beating the living crap out of, into, and back out of every single boy who hit on and flirted with Kallen. However, this was worse. Kallen was missing and it was possible that Naoto would kill the dark haired boy from yesterday.

* * *

**Fuji Resort, Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

The group of four managed to find their way back to the resort without anyone noticing that they were in ragged, burnt clothes, and that an unconscious Rai had wings.

Luckily, nobody was in the boy's or the girl's suite. This gave them the opportunity to get dressed as well as figure something out with Rai and his unnatural wings.

"What do we do? Do we go to a hospital?" Kallen asked from the kitchen as she was preparing food for everyone. She had barely entered the suite, wearing a red v-neck, tight black jeans, and her black sneakers.

"If we do that they'd call in the military." Suzaku explained as he entered the living room while putting on a white t-shirt to complete his outfit consisting of the shirt, dark denim jeans, and black boots.

"He's right. We'll have to figure out a way to hide them without it looking unnaturally stupid." Lelouch stated from his seat on the couch. The black haired male was dressed in a black shirt with his Ashford Academy jacket over it as well as black slacks and black dress shoes. Lelouch was looking up any and all recent news having to do with any unnatural sightings. Hopefully nobody had seen them enter with an unconscious, metal winged man.

"How can we do that? It's impossible to hide wings. We'd have to attach a knightmare cockpit to his back to hide them or dress him up in some costume.

"N-no you won't." a voice said. Everyone's eyes darted across the room towards the white haired, blue eyed, and winged Rai Sumeragi. Suzaku immediately darted towards Rai who was struggling to stand up.

"I-I figure if they grew out of me like a body part, then I should be able to control them like a body part." Rai stated. Instead of worrying about or freaking over the recent growth of two wings, Rai was trying to find a way to control and hide them.

"Alright then. But what I want to know is how you managed to grow those things." Lelouch said.

"T-That's what I wanted to talk about. When I passed out I had a dream. I think it may have actually been a memory from what happened last night." Rai explained.

"Well what did you see?" Kallen asked as she came into the room with a plate in hand which had four small sandwiches on it.

"Well it all started when that meteor landed." Rai began.

* * *

**December 31st, 2017 a.t.b.**

The four people were screaming in pain. On their foreheads were red symbols. Symbols of a mythological power never before seen. A power given to humanity by the Gods and used by many great people in history.

An ability said to be bestowed upon Saints to give them passage to Heaven and become Angels. A power also said to be given to Sinners to give them the ability of Hell and Demons.

The red sigil was forever seared into the foreheads of these four people and the result was the creation of humanities perfection and imperfection. This power caused greed and evil. It also created hope and salvation for the lost.

The four people's screams grew as they were engulfed in an amazing light. Violet, turquoise, crimson, and emerald filled the area. These lights seceded and amazing wings of light and energy took their place. These four figures took flight and began their assault against those flying in the sky above.

However, the four lights were dramatically weakened and as quickly as they arrived, they disappeared and crash landed into the forest below. This power was weak and it hid itself for the time being. But soon, it would return and it would either serve it's master or control it's host.

* * *

**Fuji Resort, Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

"So we attacked the Black Knights last night after receiving an amazing power from Space and then we became weak and crash landed into the forest to heal ourselves?" Lelouch asked Rai. The white haired, metallic winged boy nodded yes.

"Well it's a better explanation than what I had. But if what you're saying is true, then we have these powers too." Lelouch stated as he finished eating one of the sandwiches Kallen had made for them.

"This is ridiculous. How is it possible that we have these powers? Where did it come from anyway?" Suzaku asked, refusing to believe a dream that Rai had.

"It probably came from that meteorite we came into contact with last night. It must have been radioactive or something. That explains the genetic mutation that Rai went through." Lelouch said as his mind raced over the current situation.

"Well the first thing we need to know is if you can even hide your wings. If not then we got a big problem." Kallen said as she took a seat next to Lelouch on the couch.

"She's right. You'll need to figure out how to hide them at will. If you can't then you'll be noticed quickly and the military may even come after you." Lelouch told Rai. If Rai didn't learn how to control his new power, it would control him again as it did last night. And if that happened, many innocent people would be in jeopardy.

"Well I guess I'll get to work. You guys need to keep Milly and the others out of that room," Rai pointed at the open bathroom, "-or else we'll be caught. I don't think it'd be in everyone's best interest for them to know as well." Rai said as he exited the living room and entered the bathroom in order to begin controlling his new ability.

Immediately after Rai entered the bathroom, a loud banging came from the front door. Lelouch sighed in annoyance. This day was only getting worse and worse. They woke up in a strange place, Rai grew a pair of wings, and now someone was banging on their front door in a very violent way.

Lelouch got up from his seat and strolled over to the front door and he looked through the peep hole. He saw that a man dressed in military attire who had long dark red hair similar to Kallen's stood their and according to his facial expression, he was fuming with anger.

"Why is the military here?" Lelouch asked aloud. But before Lelouch could open the door or ask someone who this person was, the door was busted down on top of Lelouch. Standing in the doorway was Naoto Kouzuki. The appearance of Kallen's older brother shocked Kallen to the core. There was only one reason as to why he was here. And it wasn't a good one.

Naoto, who's eyes were literally glowing red with anger, grabbed hold of Lelouch by his hair and dragged him to his feet. Lelouch couldn't help but clench his teeth to keep from yelling out. Naoto slapped Lelouch across the face and yelled out, "You think you can sleep with my sister and kidnap her! I'll kill you, you little shit!" With those words out in the open, Naoto prepared to land a punch upon Lelouch's face, but this assault was stopped by Suzaku tackling Naoto with all of his strength.

"Get out of the way. I don't want to beat up the son of the Ex-Prime Minister." Naoto said with hatred in his voice.

"Y-You won't have to." a voice said. Everyone diverted their attention to Lelouch, who was slowly getting to his feet. He raised his hands and curled them into fists, ready to fight against Naoto, despite being military trained.

"No! Why are you here anyway Naoto? You should be back at base!" Kallen yelled at her brother as she stood face to face with her brother.

"I'm here to kick this guy's ass for what he did to you!" Naoto replied in a very loud voice. However, the one person who could end all of this luckily arrived. Milly Ashford entered the room with everyone else after spending a long time looking for their friends. After overhearing everything, Milly felt she had to stop this before it got out of hand. Otherwise some people wouldn't be too happy. Mainly Nunnally and Rolo wouldn't be happy with seeing their older brother getting into a fight and more than likely losing.

"STOP! This is all just one big misunderstanding." Milly said as she strolled into the room nonchalantly.

"How so?" Naoto asked, confused by the appearance of another person Naoto didn't recognize.

"Well I bet you're angry over the picture that was posted on Red Crane recently, correct?" Milly asked. Naoto nodded yes and Milly continued speaking. "Well that picture was nothing more than a practical joke. A prank of sorts. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously." Milly said.

Naoto didn't seem to have calmed down one bit by this revelation. So Milly continued to explain as to what happened and why there was no reason to fight.

"I set this whole thing up so I could get Lelouch into an embarrassing picture. Now about them not showing up last night. My guess is they got lost in the woods and didn't find their way out until morning." Milly said. Naoto looked over at Kallen for confirmation who agreed with Milly's words.

"Very well then. I guess I'll take my leave." Naoto stated as he walked out of the room, leaving the Student Council alone. After a couple of minutes in awkward silence, Milly spoke up.

"So I guess you have a lot of explaining to do. What happened last night?" Milly asked Lelouch with a devious smile on her face. Lelouch didn't say anything and he turned around and walked towards the bathroom door and he knocked on it twice and asked, "Rai? Are you done in there?"

No response came from the other side.

"Rai?" Lelouch asked again. However, it stayed silent.

"What's going on Lelouch?" Milly asked with her devious smile turning into a curious frown. Lelouch looked back at her with the facial expression of a child who had a secret he wanted to hide. Similar to when a mother wants to know why her son has been using up so much hand lotion and tissues.

Lelouch looked at Milly and replied, "Nothing. It's just that Rai has been there for a while and I need to use the bathroom."

"Really? Then why don't you go to our suite and is our bathroom?" Milly asked, trying to get Lelouch into a corner.

"No it's okay, I'll wait." Lelouch said with a nervous smile.

"There's something else going on. Lelouch what's behind that door?" Milly asked. Lelouch however kept silent. Milly wasn't in the mood to play games, seeing as how she and the others spent all morning looking for him, Suzaku, Kallen, and Rai.

"Gino. Move Lelouch out of the way now." Milly ordered. Following orders, the blonde haired male walked towards Lelouch and grappled him into a bear hug, all the while Lelouch struggled against the strength of his blonde friend.

Taking the opportunity, Milly walked towards the bathroom and grabbed hold of the door handle. As she did this, Lelouch cried out, "Milly wait!" However, before Suzaku or Kallen could stop the Student Council President, the pulled on the door and inside everyone saw that Rai was sitting on the toilet. Milly stammered and she quickly shut the door in embarrassment.

"Why didn't you tell me he was doing, _that_?" Milly asked Lelouch with a red blush on her face.

"I told you not to. You didn't listen." Lelouch said.

"A-Alright then. I guess we'd better get moving. Pack your bags everyone, we're going home." Milly said as she exited the room.

Kallen and all of the other girls exited the room leaving all of the boys alone. Gino, Rolo, and Rivalz all had questions to ask and Lelouch, Suzaku, and Rai had lies to come up with.

* * *

**January 1st, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

**1:32 p.m.**

The bus came to a halt in front of the Ashford school and everyone exited the bus as quickly as possible. Once off of the vehicle, everyone parted ways. The only people left standing at the entrance of the school were Lelouch, Nunnally, Rolo, Rai, Suzaku, and Kallen.

"Nunnally, Rolo, you go on. I'll catch up in a bit. I need to talk with these guys first." Lelouch said. Nunnally nodded and she walked off along with Rolo. After confirming they were out of earshot, Lelouch turned around and looked at his friends. The same ones who Lelouch believed had the condition Rai had. However, he had no evidence yet.

"Listen. I know what happened last night was extremely confusing and crazy, but we need to keep this quiet and we need to keep in contact. Who knows if we're infected as well. If Rai has this mutation, then I believe we do as well." Lelouch said to the others.

Suzaku nodded in response and said, "I agree. We'll need to keep this as quiet as possible. Especially you Rai. You managed to learn how to hide your wings. Now you need to keep them hidden until we figure something out."

"Right." Rai replied.

"I'll try to talk to my father about what happened last night with the meteor shower. He may not be Prime Minister anymore, but there must be something he knows." Suzaku stated.

"I'll try to ask my brother about it as well." Kallen added.

"You won't ask him a thing." Lelouch said in an angered tone.

"But he's the Ace of the Black Knights. I'm sure he-" But Lelouch interrupted Kallen, not wanting to hear anymore.

"NO YOU WON'T! Keep him out of this. He's too close to the military for us to risk it." Lelouch said with a frown. "Just make sure you keep me updated on anything you find strange about yourselves physically and mentally. I need to know everything to figure out what this is." With that, Lelouch turned on his heel and walked away.

Once Lelouch was gone from sight, Rai spoke up. "Kallen, don't take that to heart. He's still angry about what happened earlier. Just give him some time. Talk to your brother about it. See what he knows. Alright?" Rai asked.

Kallen nodded and with that, everyone went their own ways.

* * *

Lelouch was sitting in his room, his bag set down on the floor and his computer screen becoming dimmer to save battery due to it's in-activeness for the past half hour. Lelouch was trying to find anything having to do with instant genetic mutation as well as anything out of the ordinary with last night and this morning.

So far, nothing has been found. And so far, Lelouch has been on the verge of getting a migraine. His mind has been focused on looking for anything related with his current situation. And he was taking a small break.

If Lelouch couldn't find out more about what had recently happened, he would be in constant danger. If Lelouch had that ability, then it was possible his wings could pop out at anytime, anywhere and the result would be his incarceration as well as becoming a lab rat.

Having his life taken away by the military was one of the last things Lelouch wanted to happen, so he wanted to prevent any possible dangers to his life and to those close to him. Then Lelouch's mind shifted to what happened earlier. To what happened when he got off of the bus and he went off on Kallen.

After thinking about it he felt remorse. Lelouch had take his anger out on one of his friends when she wasn't even at fault. It was her brother's fault, but Lelouch couldn't do a thing about it. All Lelouch could do, or rather, wanted to do, was go and apologize to Kallen for his outburst.

"I guess I'm going out today." Lelouch said aloud as he walked towards his computer and shut it off. Once the screen went black, Lelouch grabbed his keys, phone, wallet, and he left his room, intent on righting his wrong.

* * *

**Stadtfeld Estate, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

**6:03 p.m.**

Kallen had just returned from visiting her mother who lives in Shinjuku. Kallen's mother, Reidou Kouzuki, is a sick person. After divorcing Kallen's father, Arthur Stadtfeld, Reidou was left with nothing. So she worked day and night to support herself and her daughter's education. After a couple of years, she managed to have enough money saved up to live a comfortable lifestyle in which she could work only during the day, eat the food she wanted, buy the clothes she desired, and continue help her daughter with her education.

But the strain took it's toll. Reidou became sick and the result was that she became sick with an unidentified disease. Every hospital she went to couldn't identify what this sickness was. All they did know was that she needed a medicine to help her stay alive and fit. Otherwise, she'd die.

Kallen then decided to help her mother as much as possible in any and all situations. But recently her condition has gotten worse and Reidou can't work anymore without collapsing. So Kallen has been given special permission to leave school one hour earlier once a week to help her mother in times of need.

But despite this, Arthur Stadtfeld doesn't allow his daughter to live with her mother. Kallen doesn't like it, but both Arhur and Reidou want Kallen to get the best education possible and they agree that living in Shinjuku and attending a public academy isn't the best future for her compared to living in the Tokyo Settlement and attending Ashford Private Academy.

However in Kallen's mind, this was a mistake. Kallen had to be supporting her mother when nobody else would. Her father wasn't helping her and neither was Naoto. Naoto Kouzuki was in the military and he had special military privileges which he could use to help his mother, but he wasn't using them. He was pretending Reidou Kouzuki didn't exist and instead was focusing on his own and Kallen's future.

This left a bad taste in Kallen's mouth. Her older brother, the man whom she idolized and the man who said family must be loved and supported always, was contradicting himself and was being hypocritical. Another thing she didn't like about Naoto Kouzuki was he always interfered with Kallen's social life whenever he could.

Because of his interference, Lelouch Lamperouge was angry with her. Despite Kallen saying she didn't like Lelouch one bit, in reality, Kallen did like Lelouch Lamperouge. She had a crush on him for the past 6 months. Lelouch reminded Kallen of a spoiled Britannian brat, but he also reminded Kallen of Zero, Naoto, and a man whom nobody can match up to.

He is kind, handsome, intelligent, and most importantly, understanding. But Kallen could never see herself with Lelouch. She always thought he would end up with Shirley or Milly or some model. Lelouch never once showed any interest in Kallen. This disappointed her immensely. Kalllen still hoped that someday, Lelouch would at least give Kallen a chance. At least show some interest. But that wasn't going to happen. Especially with his hatred towards Naoto. And this hatred would be taken out on Kallen.

The redhead entered her family's estate and was walking up towards the houses front steps. And standing there, leaning against one of the houses support pillars was the black haired and black dressed, Lelouch Lamperouge.

"H-Hi Lelouch. Can I help you with something?" Kallen asked him.

Lelouch looked at Kallen and pushed himself off of the pillar and stood straight up and looked at Kallen's eyes.

"Actually, I wanted to tell you something. I wanted to apologize for what happened this afternoon. I'm sorry for going off on you. It was wrong for me to take out my anger on you when you didn't do anything wrong. So I just wanted to say that I was wrong." Lelouch explained. The black haired male was hoping that Kallen would accept and forgive him, but in Lelouch's mind, Kallen was a wild card. She could forgive him or she could kill him. He never knew.

Kallen looked at Lelouch's violet eyes intensely and after what felt like an eternity she said, "Yes. I forgive you." Lelouch did his best to keep a serious face. On the inside Lelouch's jaw dropped to the floor and landed on his head. However, on the outside it looked almost as if Lelouch was expecting it.

"Thank you Kallen. I appreciate it." Lelouch said with a smirk before beginning his walk home. Lelouch had completed what he came to do. Now he had to go back home and continue research with their current situation. However, someone was going to work to ensure Lelouch Lamperouge didn't make it home.

And those people were waiting right outside the gates of Stadtfeld Estate. The moment Lelouch stepped off the estate and onto the public sidewalk, he was attacked by masked men. Lelouch was pushed down to the floor and he landed face first. Once Lelouch turned around he was kicked in the face, knocking him into unconsciousness.

* * *

Lelouch's eyes began to open and he could see only black silhouettes. Black figures with a dim light behind them. The blurry vision began to clear and the result was Lelouch could see clearer. He saw that these men were dressed in black clothing with black hockey masks covering their faces.

"Who are you?" Lelouch asked the men.

Instead of answering Lelouch's question, one of the three men slapped Lelouch across the face and spat in his eye.

"The question is who are you and what have you done to bring us upon you?" one of the masked figures asked.

"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked confused by the question.

"We are a secret group of persons who do favors for military figures. Usually we aren't called in. But we were and we came in to dispose of the trash. Now my question is, what did you do to anger the, Ace of the Black Knights?" another person asked.

Then everything clicked. Naoto Kouzuki hired a group of thugs to take out Lelouch in order to avoid him from getting close to Kallen. It made sense, but it only proved one thing. Naoto Kouzuki was a corrupt soldier. And this corruptness was going to become the death of Lelouch.

"So you're going to kill me off then." Lelouch muttered.

"That's right. So we're going to beat you down until you bleed to death." the other figure stated. "So let's begin." Lelouch took a punch to the face. Then a slap and a punch to the gut. Lelouch would have tried to struggle, but it was pointless. Being tied up to a chair in barbed wire was pointless. Moving around made it worse.

But only one thing was worse than this. That Lelouch wouldn't be around to protect his loved ones. To keep those he cared for in safety. Nunnally, Rolo, Suzaku, Rai, Kallen, and all of his other friends would be forced to keep going without Lelouch. And what was worse, if Naoto hated Lelouch this much, who knows how much he hated Suzaku or Rai.

He had to live. If not for himself then for everyone else.

And that's what triggered it. The thought of his friends in danger. The thought of his family in danger. And nobody there to protect them. With that, a red sigil that was engraved into Lelouch's forehead the night before appeared, glowing brightly.

The thugs that were beating Lelouch to a pulp stopped in confusion and the light continued to glow. And finally, the process began and the pain set in. Lelouch's back began to hurt. It began to rip. And the mutated shoulder blades started to poke out. Lelouch screamed at the pain he was feeling. However, he didn't want it to be as long and as slow as Rai's process was. So Lelouch forced it out with all his strength and his two long bony appendages revealed themselves fully.

Lelouch's forehead continued to glow red as his wings took form. With the completion of his wings, Lelouch began yelling with all his strength as he pushed against his barbed wire restraints. The barbed wire ripped into pieces and Lelouch began his assault against the thugs hired to kill him.

Lelouch punched one of them in the chest, causing him to hit the wall of the alleyway they were located in. He looked to his left and grabbed hold of the second thug by his neck. With a spin, Lelouch sent the man flying into the sky. The third and last thug who looked at Lelouch in horror tried to run, but Lelouch was much too quick. his wings activated and on each wing, one feather of violet energy appeared. These fully mutated wings gave Lelouch the ability he wished for earlier that morning.

He jumped into the sky and flew like an Angel. But like a Demon, he dived down and grabbed hold of the last thug. Once he was in his grasp, Lelouch flew back up into the sky, with his would be murderer in hand. Lelouch looked at this man in the eye and said, "The only ones that should kill, are those who are prepared to be killed." And with those words, Lelouch let go of this man, leaving him in free fall.

Lelouch had just awoken his power. The power of an Energy Bearer.

* * *

**It's a shame that it took me a couple of months to get the first half and only two days for the second half of this chapter alone. Well when you're on Summer Vacation, it's tough to stay focused on things like writing stories when you want to spend all day sleeping, playing games, and having fun with friends. Anyway I'm proud that I managed to get this chapter out. Better than putting everything off until school starts again. So please leave me a review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Stage 3: Hostages

**Hello Everyone! I updated quicker than before didn't I? Well I was excited and I was wondering where I could take this story. And how I could improve it. I think I found a way.**

* * *

******Ikaruga, Shinjuku Air Base, Tokyo Settlement, United States of** Japan

Everyone was working as usual. Everyone was asleep, except for those who were on the midnight shift. Most people didn't like the idea of working at night and sleeping in the day. However, the midnight shift was seen as one of the best. Nothing happened during the midnight shift. It was basically sitting around, doing radar checks every ten minutes, and playing a game or listening to music on your phone. And despite that, they received the same pay as the day shift.

But that wasn't the case today. Today, a man named Shane Contineo, was sitting at his spot as radar operator, ensuring that nothing appeared on radar. However, unlike his colleagues who were distracted by their phones and their music, he was serious and was focused on his job. But, his messed up sleeping schedule did take it's toll on occasion and he did doze off on occasion. But today, he was alert. He had a feeling that something would happen. It was on Shane's mind ever since the meteor shower yesterday.

Shane Contineo was of European decent, but he had the appearance of a Britannian, much to his dismay. Shane had dark red eyes and spiked up black hair. His jawline indicated he was in his mid-20's. His uniform wasn't the standard Black Knight uniform either. His was similar in appearance, but his was sleeveless and he had yellow going down the front of his uniform. His pants had yellow going down the sides of the legs as well and his black boots had yellow along the front, reaching down to his toes.

Shane was a superstitious man. He believed in the super natural and was no stranger to mythology. And Shane believed that the super natural was involved with yesterday's events. Yesterday there were four orbs of light attacking Black Knight and Britannian forces during the operation against the _Fuji 2015X-001 Asteroid._

And in Shane's mind, something out of the ordinary created those orbs of light which attacked their knightmares. And whatever it was, it had to be stopped. And right now, Shane was given the opportunity.

The radar alarm went off and according to the Ikaruga's records and files, it was another appearance of the orbs of light from yesterday. Quickly, Shane reached for the phone and called up their commander, Zero.

" Commander Zero, we have an unidentified energy source above the Shinjuku commercial area. It matches the description of the four orbs of light during last night's operation." Shane said.

"Understood. Scramble the Zero Squadron and prepare all forces. I will lead the Zero Squad to intercept it. Make sure all other squadrons are ready to take off, should things not go in our favor." Zero replied over the phone.

"Yes sir." Shane replied as he activated the alarm to scramble all forces. "All forces get into stand by mode immediately! Zero Squadron, you will launch alongside Zero and will intercept and unidentified flying object over the Shinjuku area. Repeat; all forces get into stand by mode and Zero Squadron will follow Zero to the Shinjuku area!"

With that, everyone got into position. The Gekka's were ready for flight and the Commander model Gekka's as well as the brand new Type-02 Guren launched alongside the IFX-V301 Gawain. The Guren was being piloted by the Black Knights Ace, Naoto Kouzuki, who was given the new machine by Zero himself. According to Zero, his best pilot needed the best weaponry.

And into the sky they flew, headed towards the unknown, hoping to capture or eliminate the orb of light to get revenge for yesterday's events. But what they didn't know, this orb of light was far more powerful than any knightmare frame currently in development. After a couple of minutes of flight, they reached the combat zone and the knightmares stayed in midair and awaited orders from Zero.

"Our objective is to capture this orb of light. If not possible, destroy it. Also, keep civilian casualties to a minimum and ensure that environmental damage is kept as low as possible. Now, engage!" Zero ordered. The Commander model Gekka's flew towards the orb of light that was floating in midair. It wasn't moving at all. It was just in place.

The Gekka's surrounded it and they fired their slash harkens at the orb, hoping to have it in their grasp. After confirming that the slash harkens were wrapped around the unknown, the Gekka pilots confirmed that it was captured. However, the orb began to glow brightly. And then the light began to fly at an amazingly quick speed. It flew up into the sky and the slash harkens pulled the Gekka units along with it. After reaching an incredible height of fifty meters above their previous location, the orb dived down towards the ground below.

The other Gekka's began firing upon the orb, hoping they could stop it from slamming their fellow units into the ground, but to no avail, as the machine slammed into the concrete and an explosion followed suit. On the radar of the remaining units in the sky, multiple 'Lost' signals appeared.

Standing among the burning remains of the destroyed knightmares was a human with energy wings coming from his back. It was the black haired, Lelouch Lamperouge. His anger was greater than any. His gaze switched from the burnt ruins and onto the remaining machines in the sky. His focus switched from the sky and it zoomed in to a red colored knightmare that was floating in the sky, looking down upon Lelouch.

Lelouch frowned as he took flight. He sped into the sky and he stopped once he reached the same height as the other knightmares. Lelouch looked at them all and his visions switched from that of a normal person to that of a machine with a HUD. Lelouch identified how many were remaining, which was ten units, and who was piloting them. Lelouch could see the faces of those flying those machines. There were eight people Lelouch didn't recognize and two others he knew very well. Zero and Naoto Kouzuki.

The rage within Lelouch's being grew tenfold and with a quick dash, he attacked Naoto's machine, the Guren. However, this red machine had something up it's sleeve, or rather, on it's arm. The big silver arm which had a claw for a hand released a wave of red energy. Lelouch was caught within this blast and he yelled out in pain. However, Lelouch activated one of his many abilities. An array of hexagonal energy shields appeared and they blocked the attack easily.

Lelouch pushed against the Guren, using his energy shields to do so. He then flew back and fired off an attack. From his hands came out two orbs of black and red energy. They were Hadron Orbs which the Guren tried to deflect with it's radiation wave shields, but to no avail. The orbs made impact, causing the Guren to fall out of the sky. The Gawain quickly moved to catch the Guren and the Gekka's opened fire upon Lelouch. However, Lelouch zoomed past them and was out of sight within seconds, leaving the scene.

* * *

**January 2nd, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

The sun's rays peaked through the transparent drapes that hung closed in front of the windows of Lelouch Lamperouge's room. They fell upon the face of Lelouch Lamperouge who was lying asleep on the carpeted floor of his room. His eyes slowly opened and a yawn escaped Lelouch's lips.

He sat up from his spot on the floor and he cracked his back. With an approving sound, Lelouch got up and walked over to his dresser where a mirror was located. He looked at himself and looked for any and all blemishes. Eye boogers, dry saliva, messed up hair, and anything of that sort. After ensuring he was clean, Lelouch walked to his restroom and began his usual schedule. He shut the door behind him, used the facilities, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, washed his hands and then he exited back into his room. He looked around and saw that everything was still in order, luckily.

Lelouch's mind switched to last night's events when he activated his power and fought with thugs and the Black Knights. Last night was a crazy night. But in the end, he did gain something extraordinary. But still, Lelouch did something unforgivable. He killed three people and possibly Black Knights as well.

Before Lelouch could begin to think of what to do, he heard a knock at his door. Lelouch walked over to it and he opened the door to see their maid, Sayoko Shinozaki was standing there along with Rai Sumeragi who had a calm expression on his face, but an excited posture.

"Master Lelouch, Rai Sumeragi is here to see you." Sayoko said. Lelouch thanked her, she bowed in return, and now Lelouch and Rai were standing in Lelouch's room.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Lelouch asked, knowing full well Rai had some news.

"I wanted to ask you, how did it happen?" Rai asked. Lelouch's face held an expression of confusion, but Rai pointed to his back.

"How did you know it happened?" Lelouch asked, surprised that Rai knew about his transformation.

"Because I sensed it. Last night, I felt a major headache, but I sensed that I wasn't alone. I felt that someone was like me. So I went to the sky and after a while, I saw that you were fighting the Black Knights. Then you left and I followed you. I tracked you all the way back here, so I knew it had to be you Lelouch. So how did it happen?" Rai asked, explaining how he knew about Lelouch's mutation.

"It's kind of a long story." Lelouch said, thinking about how to explain last night's events.

"Try your best to make it quick." Rai replied.

"Okay. I was capture by thugs, I grew wings, I killed them, I fought the Black Knights, and then I woke up here." Lelouch said as quickly as he could.

"Wasn't that long of a story. Well what do you think caused you to activate your transformation?" Rai asked.

"I'm not sure. It happened as the thugs were beating me to a pulp. Then I was thinking about Nunnally and Rolo and how they would be alone. I didn't want them to be alone without protection. Then the process happened and well, you know the rest." Lelouch explained as he recalled last night's events.

"Interesting. I get it now. We must only be able to transform if we have something we really want." Rai stated.

"But when you transformed we were in the middle of the forest." Lelouch said, wondering how that applied to them both.

"Yeah, but I really wanted to fly so we could get back to civilization. I was tired of all the walking and I wished for wings." Rai stated.

"That's right you did say that. But still. I don't think that can be the reason until we see if it applies to Suzaku and Kallen as well." Lelouch stated. Before Rai could reply, a ringing went off in the room. Lelouch walked towards his dresser and reached for his cell phone, answering it.

"Hello?" Lelouch asked.

"Lelouch, it's me, Kallen. I need you to come over, now!" Kallen requested.

"Wha? Why?" Lelouch asked, wondering why she wanted him over at her home.

"Just get over here. You'll see once you're here." Kallen said before hanging up.

Lelouch sighed as he put his phone down. He searched his dresser, picked out clothes, and then he entered the bathroom to change. After a couple of minutes, Lelouch came out in a new change of clothes, consisting of a black shirt with a red coat over it, black jeans, and black dress shoes. He then proceeded to spray his body with some bodyspray, grabbed his phone and his keys, and told Rai to come with him.

Whatever Kallen wanted, it must have been urgent by the sound of her voice. In Lelouch's mind, he was praying nothing was wrong. Otherwise, things could go downhill.

* * *

******Stadtfeld Estate, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

Lelouch and Rai were let into the Stadtfeld home and they were led up to Kallen's room by their maid. They knocked on the door and Kallen let them in and shut the door in her maid's face, as if hiding something.

"So what did you need Kallen?" Lelouch asked as he looked around her room. It was simple and spacious. It had a King sized bed in the corner, a desk with a computer across from it, a dresser, a bathroom, and a couch with a flat screen television on the wall. Aside from that, there was nothing more aside from a ceiling fan, drapes over the windows, and a carpeted floor colored red.

But then they saw it. Rai and Lelouch's eyes grew in size as they saw what Kallen wanted help with. Kallen was wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt, brown shorts that ended at her upper thigh, and brown boots. But the most distinctive feature was that the back of Kallen's shirt was ripped and coming from it were two giant wings with four red feathers of energy coming out of each red metallic appendage.

Kallen had become the same as Lelouch and Rai. It was amazing, but it was a problem. If Kallen couldn't hide it the same way Rai did and miraculously the same way Lelouch did, then she'd become a target or maybe worse.

"So you've become the same as us. This is a problem." Lelouch stated.

"Us? What do you mean us?" Kallen asked curious.

"Well it seems the same thing happened to me last night. Now the only one who hasn't grown wings is Suzaku." Lelouch said.

"How did it happen Kallen? What were you doing or thinking when you grew them?" asked Rai, wondering if his theory was correct the way he believed it was.

"Well I was talking to my brother on the phone. And it seems that he was injured last night during an operation. He's in the hospital now." Kallen explained, trying to keep from tearing up again. Lelouch could see the dry tear marks on her face. It seemed that her brother's injury caused a wave of emotions to ride within her.

"What were you thinking though? Were you praying for his safety? Hoping he wasn't seriously injured?" Rai asked, wanting confirmation.

"Of course I was. Why wouldn't I pray for his safety?" Kallen asked, thinking the question was preposterous.

"And after you finished speaking with him, you grew the wings right?" Lelouch asked. Kallen nodded and Lelouch frowned. That meant that Suzaku could grow his wings at any given moment in any given location.

"Alright then. Now we need you to focus. You need to make your wings disappear in the same way Rai and I did. Just think about them disappearing." Lelouch said. "Rai you stay here and help Kallen. I need to find Suzaku and make sure nothing's happened." With that, Lelouch left the Stadtfeld Estate and went looking for his best friend, hoping he wasn't too late.

* * *

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

"But I'm not lying! We got lost and were forced to spend the night in a cave. Then we came back to the resort in the morning." Suzaku explained. However, this was seen as a lie and Suzaku felt a wave of pain originating from his hand as two fangs dug themselves deep into Suzaku's skin.

Arthur, a grey colored cat with a black spot over his right eye which is colored yellow along with the left eye, loved to cause Suzaku pain by biting him. And currently, this love for causing pain was being used as an advantage by Milly Ashford.

Milly, Shirley, Euphie, Anya and Gino were all extremely interested and curious with what had happened at Mt. Fuji. They all wanted to know what Suzaku and the others did while they were gone.

Milly wanted to know if they did explicit and sexual acts against Kallen. Shirley wanted to know if Lelouch got with any girl, specifically Kallen. Euphie wanted to know if Suzaku hooked up with anyone, specifically Kallen. Gino wanted to know if they went to a party without him and what girls were there. Anya, however, was being bribed with both cash and the honor of beating Suzaku to a pulp.

Anya was a very fragile girl, in appearance. However, she is extremely strong and is also a sadist. Meaning she loved causing pain to others. And this was also being used to Milly's advantage.

"Are you sure Suzaku? Are you sure that's _ALL_ that happened? Or did you guys do something extremely private and secretive that you can't tell us because of a promise you all made." Milly asked, devilishly.

"I swear we didn't do anything!" Suzaku yelled out, however, Anya slammed her foot down on Suzaku's toes, causing his eyes to water in pain.

"Are you sure Suzaku?" Gino asked. "Are you sure you didn't do anything erotic, with Kallen? Or maybe even with Lelouch?"

Euphie, who was trying her best to not speak against Suzaku's 'torture', yelled out saying, "NO NO NO! He would never do anything with anyone! Especially not with my brother!"

The image of Suzaku kissing Lelouch entered everyone's mind and the result was Milly smiling, Anya frowning, Gino gagging, Shirley fearful, and Euphie in denial of Suzaku's actions.

"I didn't do anything!" a voice yelled out.

Everyone's eyes moved towards the doorway where Lelouch was standing, panting from his long run across the school grounds.

"Lelouch? How did you know I was here?" asked Suzaku, confused by Lelouch's appearance. Suzaku was happy his friend was there to save him, but Lelouch was only smart, not strong. And since Gino was here and he was the strongest and biggest guy in the Student Council, Lelouch had no chance of winning.

"I found you using my tracking system. Thanks to my subscription to Druid Enterprises, I was given a special Druid Tracking Radar System, allowing me to place trackers in everyone's cell phones." Lelouch explained, showing a small tablet that was displaying the location of everyone in the Student Council. Most of the dots were located at Ashford, one of them being Suzaku.

"You what? You put a tracker on me?" Suzaku asked, angered that Lelouch would use tactics like that.

"So you tracked us down to save Suzaku. It doesn't matter Lelouch, you have no hope." Milly said in an evil tone as she sent Gino to put Lelouch in a full nelson.

However, Lelouch grabbed hold of Gino's wrist and with a quick spin, slammed him into the wall, causing Gino's head to break open a hole.

Lelouch diverted his attention back to everyone else and Milly, Euphie, and Shirley were surprised by Lelouch's sudden rise in strength. However, Anya wasn't. She walked slowly towards Lelouch and got into a fighting stance.

"Anya. I don't want to fight you, but I can make a deal with you." Lelouch said.

"What deal?" Anya asked.

"I'll call in Jeremiah to take you out for ice cream with Nunnally. I'll also give you a check for one hundred dollars." Lelouch stated.

"One thousand." Anya requested.

"Deal." Lelouch said.

With that, the small pink haired girl exited the room, leaving Lelouch to face the last three girls, Milly, Euphemia, and Shirley.

Lelouch watched as Shirley and Euphie got into stances. Shirley was a part of the swim team and Euphie was more than likely taught by her sister, Cornelia, how to defend herself when in a predicament. That meant both of them were somewhat physically fit.

"So you're going to have my sister and my friend tie me up so you can continue your torture?" Lelouch asked the President, wanting to stall as long as possible so he could find a way out of this.

"That's right. Suzaku is resilient, but I don't think you are as strong as he is, even if you could smash Gino into a wall." Milly stated.

However, Lelouch was already in action. He typed into his small tablet and with a tap, the lights of the building went out and the curtains automatically closed. When they came back on, Lelouch and Suzaku were already running out of the room.

"Shirley, chase them! If we can't get Suzaku, we'll get Lelouch! Euphie, get Gino out of there and into the game!" Milly ordered as she walked towards the computer and began typing.

"What are you going to do Madam President?" Euphie asked.

"I'll use the school's special systems to track them down and trap them." Milly explained.

* * *

"Lelouch, I thank you for saving me, but you and I will have a long talk about you invading our privacy, specifically mine." Suzaku explained as they ran towards the front gate.

"I know. But that's not the problem. We need to go to Kallen's house and talk there. We have bigger issues right now." Lelouch stated as they dashed towards the gate.

However, waiting there at the entrance and only exit point, were three people. Gino, Anya, and Shirley.

"Anya! Why are you working for the President again?" Lelouch asked, shocked she went against their deal.

"She gave me a check. One thousand and five dollars." Anya explained, holding up the check.

"You betrayed me for an extra five dollars?" Lelouch asked, shocked by her strange way of making deals. Anya would betray anyone for the right amount, even if it was one cent more. The only person she wouldn't betray is Nunnally.

"And this time, there are no walls for you to slam my head into. It's amazing you gathered that much strength that quickly Lelouch. But it won't do you any good here on the courtyard." Gino said with a smile.

"And there aren't any lights you can dim with your Druid tablet Lulu! This time around, you will lose to us!" Shirley stated.

Lelouch could feel sweat going down his brow. However, it didn't matter. No matter what environment, time, or people, Lelouch always had a plan.

Lelouch snapped his fingers and seemingly out of nowhere, an MR-1 knightmare frame, one of many prototype knightmares used to create the original RPI-11 Glasgow, busted through the front gates and it came to a halt, kneeling down and extending it's hand out to Lelouch and Suzaku.

"Lelouch. How did you convince Jeremiah to come speeding here with a knightmare frame?" Suzaku asked.

"Let's just say Jeremiah is truly loyal to me and not to money." Lelouch said with a smirk as he looked at Anya. Lelouch and Suzaku stepped onto the hands of the MR-1 and once in a secure stance, the MR-1 sped away, taking Lelouch and Suzaku back to Stadtfeld Estate to ensure Suzaku wouldn't transform suddenly.

* * *

**Stadtfeld Estate, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

"So what is this all about?" Kallen asked, confused by the sudden appearance of an outdated knightmare frame on her front lawn. Everyone had entered the estate and walked up to Kallen's room, including Jeremiah, but that didn't hide the fact that they arrived via knightmare.

"I asked Jeremiah to come here and help us so I could save Suzaku. He was being, interrogated, by Milly and the others. They wanted to know what happened the night we went missing. So I tracked him down and saved him." Lelouch explained.

"I understand that part, but why did you have to use a knightmare! Why couldn't you use a car like a normal person?" Kallen asked in a loud shouting voice. Lelouch looked over at the grey MR-1 which was parked in front of Stadtfeld Estate. In all honesty, Lelouch should have probably thought that one more through.

"Ehh...All that matters is that we got Suzaku. Now we can think about our predicament." Lelouch said.

"Excuse me. But I am curious, why did you need to call me from my job to save Mr. Kururugi in a knightmare frame?" Jeremiah asked.

Jeremiah Gottwald was one of many Britannian pilots who volunteered to destroy the meteorite on New Years Eve. Now he was assigned to a special collaborative operation between Britannia and Japan, regarding special knightmare frames for a new era. That was why he was still in Japan. But Jeremiah also had a history with the Lamperouge family.

In Britannia, the Lamperouges are a powerful family with a long history of helping both the strong and the weak in Britannia. The current head of the family, Sapien Lamperouge, had sent Lelouch, Rolo, Nunnally, Euphemia, and Shane Lamperouge to the United States of Japan to get an education among fair people. If they grew up in Britannia where the only ones who make it in the world are those with money and power, if they grew up in an unfair place, they wouldn't become people who would change the world for the better. That is how Sapien Lamperouge wanted his children to grow up. In a fair and unbiased place where they could grow up with others as equals and not grow up as cocky, selfish, and stuck up brats.

That is what Jeremiah Gottwald wanted for them as well. That is why he would leave anywhere under the request of a Lamperouge. His loyalty was fierce and it was at levels nobody has seen before. But even Jeremiah didn't like being out of the loop. That is why he was asking, "What is really going on Master Lelouch?"

"Jeremiah. You are the most loyal and unselfish man I have ever met. We have a secret. And it must stay that way. If it is leaked out to the public, specifically to the military, I and my friends will be in danger. I want you to keep this only between us. Nobody else can know. Not even my father." Lelouch explained, hoping Jeremiah's loyalty was stronger towards himself and not his father.

"Yes sir. Of course. I'll take it to the grave if necessary." Jeremiah replied.

"Alright then. I guess we'd better show him then." Lelouch said.

Lelouch, Rai, and Kallen all released their wings of energy to show Jeremiah why they needed Suzaku. Lelouch's wings each had one long feather of violet colored energy. Rai had two feathers colored azure on each wing. Kallen had four crimson feathers on each wing as well. This scene shocked both Jeremiah and Suzaku.

"We were infected by some form of radiation from the meteor shower on New Years Eve. The radiation mutated us so we grew these wings. Although, we didn't grow them at random or at once either. We grew them under certain conditions. Suzaku is also infected. So that's why I called you. If Suzaku grows wings in public, then we'll all be in danger." Lelouch explained to Jeremiah.

"I see. And what condition did you grow them in?" asked Jeremiah, wondering what could have triggered this mutation.

"Our wants. What we truly desired. I truly desired to protect Nunnally, Kallen desired her brother's safety, and Rai desired...uh...the ability to fly." Lelouch explained. Everyone looked at Rai and he seemed ashamed of his reasoning, especially with the way that Jeremiah Gottwald looked at him.

"Very well then. I'll be leaving now and I'll see if I can find a way to help you in anyway possible. Please, be safe Master Lelouch." Jeremiah said as he exited the room. It was a weird situation, but Jeremiah Gottwald wouldn't rat out the boy he witnessed being born and grow up to become a smart young man who would become the most powerful man in Britannia and possibly the world.

* * *

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

After a crushing defeat from Lelouch, Milly was trying to come up with a plan along with the other members of the Student Council.

"I didn't expect him to bring a knightmare onto school grounds. It seems Lelouch is more prepared than we are. So we need to recapture Suzaku _and_ we need to find out how he got control over the school's electric systems _and_ we need to take those tracker chips out of our phones." Milly explained.

Currently, Nina was looking into the school's systems to see if there were any recent irregularities. Gino was looking at the phones to see if he could find anything that looked like it didn't belong in the phones. Shirley and Anya were trying to call up Suzaku and Lelouch while Euphie was still thinking about whether or not Suzaku did anything wrong.

"Milly, why are you so sure that Suzaku and the others did something, improper?" Euphie asked.

"Because how could they not. They're three hormone driven boys and one foxy girl. If I was Lelouch, it'd be hard for me to keep my hands off of Kallen." Milly explained

"But still. He told us plenty of times during the, interrogation, that they didn't do anything." Euphemia stated, believing Suzaku's words. However, Milly's continuous questions caused Euphie to begin doubting.

"He's a boy. Boy's lie Euphie. Even Suzaku." Milly said.

"Liar or not, I need to get home. I'll see you all tomorrow then." Euphie said with a smile.

"Alright then. Bye Euphie!" Milly practically yelled out. Everyone said their goodbye's and Euphie exited the Student Council room. She began her walk out of the school. Euphie looked out of the windows and saw that the sun was still up, but in a couple of hours, it'd be sundown.

She turned her attention back towards the empty hallway and she saw that she wasn't alone. Three people, fully dressed in black military uniforms and equipped with assault rifles and other military weaponry , were walking down the hall, towards Euphie. In shock, she turned back around and saw that she was trapped.

Four others dressed and armed the same as the original three men were walking towards her from the other side of the hall. Either they were military, terrorists, or thugs. Either way, they were dangerous. And they were coming for her.

* * *

**Stadtfeld Estate, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

"Are you sure it was because you desired it? Maybe it was just random." Suzaku said. For the past half hour they were trying to get Suzaku to grow his wings. But it wasn't going the way they planned.

"Yes we're sure. It can't all be coincidence." Lelouch said.

"Well maybe it is. I've been focusing for who knows how long and nothing has happened Lelouch. I'm taking a break." Suzaku said as he sat down on the couch. "Can we watch something?"

Kallen walked over to the couch and grabbed the remote, turning on the television located on her wall. The screen switched from black to the Japanese news. On the screen the famous anchorman, Jake Lyker, a black spiky haired man with green eyes was talking about a current hostage situation.

"We bring you live to the current hostage situation located at the famous school, Ashford Academy. We have confirmed a terrorist organization known as, The Cell, has taken up to six people hostage. One of them is confirmed as the grand-daughter of the school's headmaster, Ruben K. Ashford. The Black Knights have surrounded the entire school along with Japanese Police forces and the government is doing it's best to meet the demands of the terrorists. We still do not have any word from Zero, Commander of the Black Knights." Jake Lyker said.

Suzaku and the others looked on in horror as they saw that their friends were in danger. If they could do something then they would. However, none of them knew what to do in the current situation. But Suzaku knew.

"AGHHH!" Suzaku yelled out in pain and agony. His shirt began to rip and his voice yelled out in the amazingly fierce amount of pain he was feeling. From his back came out two wings. They were colored a metallic white and the activated, three green feathers coming from each appendage.

"AGHH!" He yelled out. Suzaku's eyes began glowing a bright green and with one quick movement, he flew out of the room, leaving a gaping hole where the window used to be.

"SUZAKU! Come on! We can't let him go alone!" Lelouch yelled out as he activated his own wings and zoomed out after him. "He's right. We have to get him back here." Rai told Kallen as he flew out after Lelouch.

Kallen looked on as they took to the sky. She didn't know if it was worth going for. The military would be there. The news would be there. It was dangerous. But their friends were in danger and she had the ability to save them. So the Red Lotus took to the sky.

* * *

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

"How are we going to approach them?" asked Naoto Kouzuki. He was currently speaking with Zero, via cell phone. The Black Knights arrived to take control of things, but he couldn't do anything without orders from Zero.

"Nothing. We can't risk anything just yet. Just wait a bit longer." Zero replied.

"Alright." Naoto said as he hung up the phone. He looked on at the school and smiled. Lelouch Lamperouge didn't die yesterday. He escaped and the men he hired were found dead. So Naoto went to the next level. Hurt his loved ones and draw Lelouch out and kill him. Naoto had his plan all set up. He even hired, The Cell, to take the school hostage. It was easy. Now he had to make sure Lelouch didn't weasel his way out of this one as well.

"Look up there!" a voice called out. Everyone's attention, police, military, and civilian went up to the sky and flying through the orange sky were four objects, each colored differently. One red, blue, green, and the last one purple. They were the same orbs from New Years Eve.

The green one slammed into the school with the others close behind it. Inside of the Student Council room, the orbs went in and came out holding the terrorists. The orbs dropped them onto the school's courtyard and they zoomed up into the sky and out of sight.

The police rushed in and arrested the seven men who were carrying busted weapons. The military, however, started it's hunt for the four unknown orbs of light. Whatever they were, they needed to be apprehended as they were a possible threat to the country.

* * *

**Mt. Fuji, United States of Japan**

"SUZAKU! STOP!" Lelouch yelled out as he chased after Suzaku's green trail of light. Kallen sped forward with a sudden burst of speed and she grabbed hold of Suzaku and slammed him into the ground below. Rai and Lelouch dived down after them, slowing down and landing next to the big cloud of dust.

Once it cleared, Kallen could be seen holding down Suzaku who was struggling against her grip. However, he managed to get out of her grip and he jumped out of the crater they were in. However, Lelouch and Rai stood in his way.

"Suzaku, calm down. There's no point in flying around everywhere." Rai said.

"I can't calm down! I've been given this power that I don't want! Why would I? I'm a freak of nature, infected by some strange disease!" Suzaku yelled out.

"We've been given a gift. We can use it to our advantage. A power above everyone else's. A power we can use to protect everyone we care about, like we just did." Lelouch explained.

"But we're also targets! We're going to be chased down by the military and we're going to be seen as freaks by everyone we care for!" Suzaku yelled.

"I hate to say it, but he's right. We'll probably become lab rats for the Black Knights or for Britannia. Either way, it doesn't work out for us." Kallen stated as she climbed up.

"I know what you mean. I understand. But still. We need to learn how to control this first. We released this power through emotion and wants. We need to learn how to control it, otherwise it could be released at anytime we get emotionally unstable." Lelouch explained.

"I agree with Lelouch. At the very least we have to hide until we can find a cure or antidote for this thing." Rai added.

"Come on Suzaku. Let's go back. You're not going to find anything out here." Lelouch said as he jumped into the sky and took flight. Rai and Kallen followed suit and they looked at Suzaku, waiting to see if he would follow. Suzaku eventually went along with them and they all returned back to Tokyo.

* * *

**Ikaruga, ********Shinjuku Air Base, Tokyo Settlement, United States of** Japan

As the night drew closer, Shane Contineo, radar operator of the Black Knights, laughed as he watched the news. Four orbs of light rescued the hostages at Ashford. They were being called, heroes, angels, vigilantes, mercenaries, terrorists, villains, demons, monsters, aliens, and even prototype knightmare frames.

Nobody knew what it was that rescued those teenagers. Not the police, not the Black Knights, and sure as hell not the government. But he knew. Shane Contineo knew what they were. They were just like he was. A freak of nature. An infected person. An alien. A mutant. A hero. And angel. A demon. Nobody had an actual name for what he was or what they were.

But Shane Contineo did and his father did as well. Sapien Lamperouge spent most of his life researching these things and looking for them, hoping he could make contact and establish peace with them. They believed they were being hunted and in the way he was doing it, it sure looked that way.

Shane Contineo knew a lot about these people, where they came from, how strong they were, and what they were searching for. He should know, he was one of them. One of many. One of the Energy Bearers.

* * *

**So how was it? I know I managed to publish this faster than the last one which wasn't put up for a couple of months. I want you to tell me how I'm doing. If I could do better or if I'm doing just fine. I'd appreciate the criticism. Thank you and please review!**


	4. Stage 4: Europe

**Hello Everyone! Sorry for lack of update, but I was busy and am busy with school. I tried out for a play and I got one of the lead roles, which I am excited for. But that means I can no longer update as often as I wanted to. And my weekends are full as well with fundraising as well as helping around my house and job hunting. But that doesn't mean I'm quitting. I'll update as much as I possibly can and if you checked my profile as well as the Code Geass Fanon wiki, you will see I have many more stories to come. So thank you for supporting me and don't think I am stopping this anytime soon. I'll be working on chapters as much as I can and as quickly as I can without taking away from the story. So thank you for your support!  
**

* * *

**July 11th, 2010 a.t.b.  
**

**Lamperouge Estate, California, Holy Empire of Britannia  
**

Sapien Lamperouge, head of the Lamperouge family was saddened. Today was the day of his children's departure. His heirs would be sent to Japan in order to live a life of equality and normalcy. Sapien was a powerful man with powerful allies. But powerful people weren't always safe. So in order for his offspring to live peaceful and safe lives, he would send them all to a neutral country.

Recently, tensions between Britannia and Eurasian countries have grown to an all time high. This all resulted thanks to the recent invasion and conquering of the Indochinese Pensinsula. Due to this, the E.U. and the Chinese Federation had placed severe economic pressure upon Britannia by convincing the Japanese Prime Minister, Genbu Kururugi, to reduce the amount of sukuradite Britannia could import.

However, this all changed when an unknown group supplied with knightmares attacked the Japanese government and brought about the creation of the United States of Japan. The group was known as the, Black Knights, and they caused Genbu Kururugi to step down and eliminate the sukuradite restrictions placed on Britannia to avoid war.

With Japan's new found neutrality, it was the perfect place for Sapien to send his children. Because during the time that the sukuradite restrictions on Britannia were in place, also known as the Oriental Incident, the Lamperouge family supported the E.U. and it's allies. This caused numerous Britannian aristocratic families to turn on the Lamperouges. This meant that the heirs were in danger. Which was why his children were to leave to Japan today and never return until the tensions between the Lamperouges and other noble families ended.

And for all he knew, the day they may return might not ever come. The Lamperouge family was in a tight spot and it was very possible they could become exiles. But to Sapien that didn't matter. All that mattered was his family's safety.

* * *

**January 9th, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Ikaruga, Tokyo Bay, United States of Japan  
**

Zero was at his personal quarters, reading over some files. He had a press conference to attend tomorrow, so today he was going over what information could and couldn't be shared to the general public. The past week they had been interrogating the terrorist group known as, The Cell, after their arrest seven days ago.

They were arrested following the intervention of four unknown lights during the hostage situation at Ashford Academy. Now to be perfectly honest, Zero didn't really care about the hostage situation, but rather the orbs of lights that had appeared to, save the day.

According to what the terrorist members had said, the orbs of light were human like figures with wings and they had came in fast, disarmed them and threw them out into the school's courtyard before leaving the scene. Now a phenomenon like this was unknown the world, hence the extreme amount of attention the media gave to that situation. Currently, nobody knew anything except the Black Knights. And it was best to ensure that it stayed that way. Otherwise there would be chaos and panic in the streets.

So, Zero was going through every single file in a slow and thorough fashion to ensure he didn't leave any plot holes in his speech. If he did make a mistake, the media would be all over his ass about it and the trust the world had in the Black Knights would fall to an extremely low level once again.

Back then, when the Black Knights was first formed, the world had little trust in them. After they destroyed the previous government and placed in the United States of Japan, every Japanese citizen believed that Japan would become something similar to Britannia or the Chinese Federation. But that opinion changed over time and quickly, Japan became the same as Britannia when it came to military might, but better than the E.U. when it came to democracy and unlike the Chinese Federation, the money wasn't held by a small group of individuals.

And in order to ensure the trust they earned over the past eight years didn't go down the drain, he would spend hours on end, trying to create a believable story that wouldn't cause the news to report that the Black Knights were lying thieves.

But before he could continue reading through the numerous documents, someone knocked at his door. Zero stretched his arm out, hand over his mask, ready to cover his face and he asked, "Who is it?".

"It's Shane Contineo." the male voice replied.

Zero relaxed his arm and let the mask sit on his table as he unlocked the sliding electronic door via remote control. The door slid open and in walked Shane Contineo, the young adult who was the evening radar operator.

Unlike everyone else in the Black Knights, Shane was the only one Zero trusted with his identity and his life. Because they had a real connection nobody would understand.

"What can I do for you, Shane?" Zero asked as he looked back down at the files.

"Well, Zero, I wanted to ask you how we were going to enact the Energy Initiative." Shane answered.

"We are going to approach them in a quiet and peaceful manner. If Mr. Lamperouge doesn't want to join the Order, then we'll have to apprehend him and his friends. It is the only way we can keep the Energy Bearers a continued secret. Otherwise, the world will learn of a secret meant to stay away from human eyes." Zero replied as his crimson eyes scanned the paper in his hand.

"Are you sure you will be able to take him into custody? He is very close to you after all." Shane stated, wanting to find out if Zero was as ruthless and careless as he said he was.

"Of course. One man for the safety of 10 million people is a fair bargain." Zero replied as he put the files down and stood up from his seat. He turned around to face Shane and he smiled. Zero was a kind looking man. He had light brown hair and blood red eyes that were similar to the ones on the face of Shane. Despite his kind appearance, he was ruthless and he would do anything necessary for the continued protection of the Energy Bearers.

* * *

**January 10th, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Government Bureau, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan  
**

Lelouch Lamperouge was watching the live press conference being held at the Government Bureau. He was originally going to watch it at home, but he decided that it'd be better to see it in person. There was always the chance that he could find something out.

The news reporters that were sitting in front of the stage were talking amongst themselves, but they went quiet when two people went onto the stage. One of them was obviously, Zero. The masked man dressed in a black cape and Victorian clothing. The man standing next to him was the Prime Minister of Japan, Kaname Ohgi, who was wearing a tan colored suit.

Zero came to the podium in the middle of the stage, and he looked over at the crowd that had arrived. News reporters, police officers, military personnel, politicians, celebrities, and of course, civilians. And among them he recognized a black haired and violet eyed male whom he knew very well. But now wasn't the time to focus on him. Now was the time to speak.

"One week ago, six students that attend Ashford Academy were held hostage by a group known as, The Cell. This terrorist organization held these defenseless young adults hostage in return for a total of 500 million dollars. Before the Japanese government could make any deal, an unknown group of four lights intervened and disarmed the terrorists, leaving them in the school's courtyard for the police to arrest. These unknown lights are not experimental knightmare frames and nor are they of Japanese origin. As far as our records show, these lights did not enter the country nor did they leave the country. So as of today, the Black Knights will begin a search for this group of four to ensure the safety of the Japanese population. Thank you." Zero finished as he walked off stage, leaving Prime Minister Ohgi to answer questions from the press.

Lelouch decided it was time to leave and he began his exit from the press conference. As he walked out of the area and towards the public railway system, someone stopped him. A very familiar face that he hadn't seen in almost 4 years was walking towards him. The black haired and red eyed, Shane Lamperouge.

"Lelouch. I thought you'd be here." Shane said as he shook hands with his younger sibling.

"Shane? How did you-where have you been?" Lelouch asked, wondering where his brother was for the past 4 years.

"I've been around. Anyway, I have to talk to you. We have something very important to discuss." Shane said as he began walking with Lelouch towards a cafe. Once inside, Shane ordered a Frappuccino and after receiving his ice coffee, he and Lelouch began to talk at a table.

"So what did you want to discuss?" Lelouch asked as he looked out of the window towards the press conference.

"I wanted to talk to you about the recent, addition to you and your friends." Shane began, stopping to take a sip from his coffee. "Let's just say that Mt. Fuji can be fixed."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Lelouch said, keeping his face calm, but in his mind, he began to think as to how his brother could have known about the mutation.

"Lelouch, you can't hide from me. Because I can feel it. You're not the only one with wings." Shane said as he continued to drink his coffee.

Lelouch's eyes widened and his hands began to tremble slightly. Lelouch sighed and said, "How is that possible? How can it be fixed?"

"Let's just say I know people. I can help find an antidote and I can help end the hunt for you. However, you'll have to help me out with my own project." Shane explained.

"What project?" Lelouch asked, wondering what his brother had in mind.

"Basically you and your friends will assist me in a military research program. In return, you will all receive an antidote each and will be back to your normal lives." Shane answered.

"What research program and what military?" Lelouch asked, wanting specifics.

"Black Knight Energy Weaponry and Advanced Floatation Systems." Shane said.

"I see. When and where?" Lelouch asked.

"Tomorrow at the Narita Mountains. There is a facility named the, Zero Warehouse. Go in there and I'll show you an in depth description of what we'll be doing." Shane said as he stood up from his seat as he walked towards the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Lelouch said as he watched his brother exit the cafe. For some reason, Lelouch couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. But then again, it was his brother and ever since they were children, Shane had always looked out for him.

* * *

**January 11th, 2018 a.t.b.  
**

**Zero Warehouse, Narita Mountains, Narita, United States of Japan**

"Are you sure we can trust this guy?" Rai asked as he skeptically entered the warehouse along with Lelouch, Kallen, and Suzaku. Each of them were dressed in their Ashford uniforms since they had just attended a school meeting discussing the Back to School Pep Rally they were having in a couple of days.

"Not really. But we'll have to take our chance and see what he has to offer." Lelouch answered as he looked around the empty and black warehouse.

"Didn't you say we wouldn't become lab rats?" Kallen asked as she peered through the darkness.

"I did, but if they do try to attack us, we have the abilities to escape this place." Lelouch stated as he squinted his eyes to try to make out any shape.

But these efforts were futile as the lights of this building turned on and their eyes, which had adjusted to the darkness, instantly dilated and caused pain to the four Ashford students. As their eyes got used to the light, everyone was amazed that out of the two people standing with them in the warehouse, one of them was a celebrity.

The masked man dressed in a black cape was standing next to Shane Contineo/Lamperouge and his presence without major security wasn't something they had expected. Zero was there to speak with them personally.

* * *

**December 14th, 2013 a.t.b. **

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan  
**

Lelouch Lamperouge was sitting at his couch, having just spent an entire day working on the Winter Festival. He had the usual school day, then Student Council activities, and finally going to his Chess match. Having spent all day doing these things was usually very simple, but today, Lelouch was forced by a friend of his named, Milly Ashford, to participate in EVERY class. Lelouch didn't like his job as Treasurer, but he was a very important part of the council since he took care of the finances, which was tough seeing as how much the Prez spent on these types of things.

So in order to cool down, Lelouch would watch the evening news, take a soothing bath, and head to bed after having a nice dinner with his siblings, Nunnally, Rolo, and Shane.

Lelouch clicked on the television and went to channel four. On the screen, the news reporter was talking about the recent discovery of a plane crash along the Eastern coast of Halifax, Britannia. "A jet headed towards Boston had gone off course due to sever weather conditions and poor maintenance of the jet's engines, leaving the plane flying off until it crashed on the Halifax island. The people on board consisted of two pilots, a small crew and ten passengers, one of them being the famous Lamperouge head, Sapien Lamperouge. No bodies have been found and the position of head of the Lamperouges has switched over to Sapien's wife, Mary Lamperouge."

Lelouch's eyes opened wide in shock as he saw the images and video feed of the crashed jet. The news of Sapien Lamperouge reported missing and more than likely deceased shocked Lelouch to his core. His father was gone. The man who raised Lelouch was now dead.

The sound of a door opening, feet shuffling, and a door closing once again were almost a small as a fly buzzing around to Lelouch. The sound of his family returning from their activities was impervious to Lelouch. Nunnally walked towards Lelouch and saw her older brother was in a trance like state. Everyone came to Lelouch's side and asked what was wrong. They turned their attention to the television and they saw the news as well.

Nunnally began to cry and Rolo began to console her as he did his best to keep his own emotions under control. Shane had disappeared from sight and Lelouch kept trying to process the information in his mind. Why would this happen? How could it happen? How was it even possible? How could "poor maintenance" occur on a jet that was carrying one of the most powerful men on Earth? There was something more to this than the media was displaying.

* * *

**Zero Warehouse, Narita Mountains, Narita, United States of Japan**

"Zero. What did you want to talk about with us?" Lelouch asked as he scowled at the Black Knights leader. If Lelouch knew anything, it was to not trust the military. Especially not the Black Knights.

"I'm here to make a proposal. You see, you've been under my radar for the past week. You have been transformed into something above human. So the only way we can ensure you are kept out of sight from the media and under the radar is by accepting my offer." Zero explained.

"And what offer is that? What do you exactly want us to do?" Suzaku asked.

"I want you to join, _us_. Join the Order." Zero answered. "Join a group of individuals with the same abilities that you have." Shane explained.

"A group, like us?" Kallen asked, wondering how there could be more people like them.

"An organization that has been in existence for many decades. A group of people genetically mutated by a radiated element named Radiate. It's an altered form of Sukuradite, the mineral we use as a fuel source around the world. Over time, many people have been affected by Radiate and ever since the beginning, we've researched the mineral and done our best to find a possible antidote. And with the recent falling of the _Fuji 2015X-001 Asteroid_, we've discovered that there is a new form of Radiate that we named, Siration. The Siration has affected you four and now you are all extremely valuable targets. You are all the most advanced Energy Bearers on the planet." Zero explained.

"What are Energy Bearers?" asked Rai, as he tried to sum up every bit of information they had just received.

"Energy Bearers are the name we have given to people of your caliber. We can explain everything in greater detail if you accept our offer. Stay with us and join the Order. In return, we will give you an antidote to your condition as well as hide your existence from other nations." Shane explained.

"Where will we go?" asked Kallen, wanting to know exactly where they were going.

"Europe." Zero said.

"The E.U.?" asked Suzaku.

"We have a facility located in Europe for people like us. Where we can train and where we can assist one another. You can come with us. You'll leave behind your friends and family, but in turn, you will become one with power. One that can change the world. One that can help others. Or return to your normal lives by helping create an antidote." Shane explained.

"Will you accept?" Zero asked.

Lelouch and the others thought about it, trying to think about how this next decision could affect their entire lives. This moment would be one that could change themselves and those around them.

"I'll do it. I'll go." Kallen said. "If I can find a cure, then I'll go to Europe."

"So will I. If I can't get an antidote, then I'll master this ability." Rai stated.

"I won't. I can't leave. If I need to master this power, I'll do it alone, but I won't risk going with Zero to Europe to train when I can do it here. Why should I trust you? You who invaded a nation and killed thousands of innocent people! I'm staying here in Japan, whether you like it or not." Suzaku said as he walked out of the warehouse.

"You two go after him. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I'll stay here." Lelouch said quietly as he pondered over the situation. Rai and Kallen exited the warehouse and chased after their friend, leaving Lelouch to make his own decision.

"Will you come with us to Europe?" asked Zero, wanting to see if Lelouch would make the correct choice.

"No. I have no reason to. Besides, I must protect my family here in Japan. Suzaku can't do something like this on his own." Lelouch answered, turning on his heel, and walking towards the door they entered from.

"You do have a reason Lelouch. You have family in Europe as well and they are in danger constantly. Especially Sapien." Zero explained.

"What? What are you talking about?" asked Lelouch, shocked that Zero knew that name.

"Sapien Lamperouge is still alive Lelouch. And he is a major supporter of the Order. Thanks to him we've been able to stay under the radar and thanks to him we've managed to continue our research and training. I can take you to him." Zero explained.

Lelouch's eyes widened with fear and amazement. His father was still alive, but he was involved in this order. For all Lelouch knew, his father might even be an infected as well.

"May I take my siblings?" asked Lelouch, hoping he could bring Nunnally and Rolo to see their father.

"Yes. But if you do, you'll cut all ties with Ashford." Shane stated.

Lelouch looked at his feet and he thought about it. His family would be safe, but he'd lose his friends. He'd lose those that he grew up with. And more than likely, he could never return.

* * *

**January 15th, 2018 a.t.b.**

Milly Ashord, Rivalz Cardemonde, Gino Weinberg, and Shirley Fenette all arrived at the Student Council Clubhouse, the place where the Lamperouges lived. They were hoping to find Lelouch, Nunnally, and Rolo and then ask them as to why they hadn't gone to school. Even Euphemia and Suzaku didn't arrive at school that day. The first day of school after Winter Break and they didn't arrive, which would show up on their record.

As they walked up the front steps, something caught Milly's eye. Taped to the front of the wooden door was a note. Milly walked up to the door and grabbed hold of the note and began to read it out loud.

_Dear Student Council Members,_

_Rolo, Nunnally, and I have all decided to move to the E.U. to join up with other members of our family. I apologize for leaving on such short notice, but it is an emergency and we won't be able to return for an unknown amount of time. I will let you all know when we return to Japan. I'm sorry this had to happen, but as I said, it is an emergency. We won't be able to communicate much either, due to the major timezone difference between Europe and Japan. Hopefully we can talk with one another via the Internet. I hope you all have a wonderful year.  
_

_Sincerely, Lelouch Lamperouge_

"WHAT? How could they just up and leave like that?" Gino yelled as he reread the note after taking it from Milly's grip.

"Lelouch and I won't be able to go gambling anymore." Rivalz said in a low voice.

"Lulu is gone..."

"What about festivals? What about graduation? How about Anya? How will she feel about this? What about Suzaku and Euphie?" Milly asked as she thought over what they just discovered multiple times.

* * *

**January 16th, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Malkal Castle, London, European Union  
**

Lelouch, Rolo, Nunnally, and Shane had all just arrived at the amazingly luxurious and beautiful, Malkal Castle, located in the outskirts of London. The four Lamperouges arrived there early in the morning after landing in Europe. Malkal Castle was going to be their new home.

Lelouch looked over the lobby of the castle and it was very spacious and very empty, aside from paintings, pillars, and a chandelier of gold on the ceiling. The walls were painted white and the floor was a porcelain tile. Lelouch refocused his attention towards the giant doorway on the other side of the room and standing there were two people.

One of them was a man with blonde hair that was gelled all the way back and his light violet eyes showed signs of excitement. He was wearing a dark naval blue suit with black dress shoes. The person standing next to him looked like a younger female version of him. It was his daughter, who had long blonde hair with the same light purple eyes that he had. She was wearing a similar outfit, that was more of a mix between a blazer and a dress. It ended around her thighs and for footwear she was wearing black high heels that reached above her knees.

"I am Rick Malkal, head of the Malkal Family and owner of this estate. This here is my daughter, Layla Malkal. She will be showing you around the house and after you are all settled in, we will have dinner. By that time, we will discuss the deal you agreed to. Now I have to get going to a business meeting. I'll see you all at dinner." Rick explained as he walked on past the four Lamperouges and out the door.

Lelouch and the others turned back around to face Layla who appeared to be less than happy with her current task. But if she was going to be living with these people and working with two of them, she would do her best to get along with them.

* * *

**Malkal Tower, London, European Union**

Rick Malkal had just arrived at the top floor of Malkal Tower, a tall building made of glass and iron. The tower was huge in comparison to the buildings near it. The building was an office building where he held meetings based on economic deals regarding minerals, imports, exports, knightmare research, and on occasion, the Order. Today was one of those rare occasions.

Rick exited the elevator and walked forward down the hall which was white and empty aside from the lights on the ceiling. At the end of the short hallway was a door that he unlocked with a key and opened. Inside was a vast space with a long table, chairs, and a big desk area with multiple computer monitors and files.

Standing near the long wooden table was a man dressed in a black suit. He was looking out the glass window with his face turned away from Rick. But Rick Malkal didn't need to look at his face to know who he was.

This man was famous and notorious. He was known for being kind to the wealthy and the poor. He was known for assisting foundations and charities as much as possible. He was also known for supporting Japan during the Oriental Incident, which brought many enemies to the Lamperouge family. But this all ended fairly quickly.

"It's interesting isn't it? How after all this time, things haven't changed." the black haired man said to Rick who walked around the table to stand by his side.

"It is. But now it can change. Now we can begin our plan to help the world onto a better path." Rick said as he looked out the glass as well. The city was a great one, but not compared to Tokyo. And one person knew that better than anyone.

"I assume he arrived?" asked the black haired man. Rick looked at his friend who seemed to be growing a goatee along his chin. Rick replied, "Yes. He along with Shane, Rolo, and Nunnally. Why don't you go see them?"

"I can't. It's been too long. The only one I can talk to who would be reasonable with me is Lelouch. He would understand what Rolo and Nunnally can't. Maybe in the future. But not anytime soon." said the man. He seemed to fear meeting with the Lamperouges. But even he knew their meeting was inevitable, but he would do anything to postpone it.

"Sapien, you can't avoid them forever. You'll have to face them. Better sooner than later. It's been 5 years since what happened and 8 since you last saw them. It's time you set aside your own wants and consider theirs. You said that to me didn't you?" Rick asked his friend as he thought about the meeting they had long ago.

* * *

**November 23rd, 2013 a.t.b.**

**Malkal Castle, London, European Union**

"Are you sure that you can handle two lives at once?" asked a tall blonde man dressed in a naval blue tuxedo. His eyes of a light violet color showed signs of weariness as this man had just woken up from his slumber to speak with his longtime friend, Sapien Lamperouge, head of the Lamperouge family.

"No I can't. Going to Japan and returning home every week wasn't something I could handle. That's why I'm here to ensure that you can help me with my situation. Faking one's death isn't an easy job." Sapien said as he walked along the dimly lit corridor with the head of the Malkal family, Rick Malkal.

These two were longtime friends, having attended the same private school when they were young. Together, they learned everything they could about politics, military strategical planning, economics, and basically everything they needed to know in order to become the heads of their families. Together, they supported one another and they did their best to change the current world for the better.

"I can help, that's not the problem. The problem is if you truly want to do this. If you do then you won't be able to see your children and you won't be able to control the Lamperouge empire while in Japan." Rick explained as he came to a halt to look out of the corridor's windows. The formerly dark sky was turning light as the sun began to peak over the horizon.

Sapien came to a stop as well as he continued to talk with his friend over the current situation. "I understand what you're saying, but things like personal wants and needs aren't important compared to the future of this world as well as the future of the Order. That's why I need your help. So our efforts won't be in vain."

Rick shut his eyes and sighed as he pondered over what his longtime ally and close friend was asking of him. "Very well then. I'll help you. But make sure that you survive. Even if the attempt is pointless." Rick said as he grabbed hold of his friends shoulder.

"I will. You can count on that." Sapien replied with a smile as he left his friend to watch the rising sun. Sapien walked on, knowing his future was set, but also knowing his past life was over.

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter, but as I said above I am busy and I'll try to continue when I have the time. Aside from that, I want you all to know the immense difficulty I had preparing this chapter. I didn't know how to continue the story on this one and I ended up with four possibilities, including this chapter. But I deleted them since this was the only one with a future. Thanks for reading and I'll update very soon!  
**


	5. Stage 5: Captured

**Hello Everyone! Sorry for the wait, no time to explain, just read!**

* * *

**January 20th, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Ashford Academy, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

"I still can't believe he just left like that." Milly said in a low tone. It had been five days since the Lamperouge family left for Europe. The only one who remained was Euphemia Lamperouge who was a half-sibling of theirs. What was even stranger than that was the fact that Kallen had disappeared as well, causing extreme suspicion to be cast upon Lelouch. It was strange that she would disappear from sight soon after the Lamperouges left to the E.U. And adding to the confusion was Rai's disappearance as well.

So the Student Council was having a meeting with all members. Gino, Rivalz, Nina, Euphemia, Shirley, and Anya were all present. The only person yet to arrive was Suzaku. Milly thought he left with Lelouch since they were the closest friends out of all of them, but Milly still saw him from time to time so that possibility was out. So Milly would ask Gino and Euphie what they knew about Suzaku and how he was acting.

"Gino you are Suzaku's proclaimed best friend and Euphie, you have a crush on Suzaku. So what's up with him?" Milly asked as she slouched in her chair.

"I haven't talked to him in three days. He called me asking what was going on regarding school and when I told him nothing was going on, he hung up." Gino explained, lowering his head when he finished his sentence.

"I haven't seen Suzaku since Lelouch left. I even went to his favorite spots and he wasn't there at all. The only place I haven't checked was his house and I don't think anyone is there either. I mean his step-father is in the military, so he's always on duty." Euphie said quietly.

"I see. So we'll check there first. Write this down Rivalz!" Milly ordered as she continued with the meeting as Rivalz roughly scribbled the words, "Suzaku's house", on a notepad.

"Now did Nunnally say anything about Europe, Anya?" asked Milly as she tried uncovering any clues.

"No. She acted the same as always. I think she might have left the night before we found the note and it might have not even have been planned. I doubt Lelouch would leave like that unless he found out about it at the last minute." Anya explained in a bored tone.

"I see. So if it's like that then this means the only lead we may have is Suzaku. Where does Suzaku live Euphie?" Milly asked as she began to go through her phone for a means of transportation.

"He lives downtown. In the Settlement. There's an apartment complex there for politicians, military officers, celebrities, and businessmen. Suzaku lives in a condo high up in the Centrino Tower." Euphemia answered, once again in a quiet voice. It seemed Suzaku's disappearance had begun to take it's toll on Euphie's mental state.

Gino's head immediately popped up at the mention of the Centrino Tower. Shirley's eyes widened and even Anya looked a little surprised. "He lives in Centrino Tower? That's one of the most famous apartment towers in the world! I hear Zero stays there from time to time!" Rivalz yelled out in shock.

"Well his step-dad is Kyoshiroh Tohdoh. He's a high-ranking officer from what Suzaku has told me." Euphemia explained, not knowing how amazing and how insane this revelation was. Euphie looked at everyone and saw they were all amazed at what she had just said.

"What? Did I say something?" Euphie asked, wondering how her words could have brought about this reaction.

"Kyoshiroh Tohdoh is a general in the Japanese military. He is famous for having been able to beat the Black Knights and Zero during the war 8 years ago." Nina began to explain. "But after he found out that the Prime Minister was going to sell Japan to the Chinese Federation or to Britannia, he killed him and sided with Zero for a new independent Japan. If it wasn't for Tohdoh, Japan might not even be the way it is today." Nina finished.

"She's right. And what makes things worse is who the Prime Minister was." Gino added, knowing the extreme tension that must have existed between Suzaku and his guardian.

"What do you mean?" asked Rivalz as he looked up from his notepad, not knowing what Gino was getting at.

"Suzaku's father, his real father was the Prime Minister of Japan when Zero attacked the country. Suzaku's father is Genbu Kururugi, who Tohdoh killed in order to create a new nation alongside Zero." Anya explained as she looked through her camera phone.

"Wow. No wonder Suzaku didn't talk about home, ever. But knowing this, should we even go see Suzaku?" Rivalz asked, wondering how awkward the atmosphere would have been if Suzaku and Tohdoh were both there.

"I know it doesn't sound good, but we have to go. Suzaku is our friend and we can't just let him stay home and miss school like this. He's already missed five days, meaning that he could possibly be dropped from the school." Milly said. "Those in favor of seeing Suzaku, raise your hand!" Milly yelled as she raised her arm high into the air.

Following her example, every member of the council put their hand into the air, minus Anya who only poked up her pinkie as she played a game on her phone. "Right then! So we're going to, Centrino Tower!" Milly yelled out loud as she pointed her finger out towards the Settlement which could be seen in the distance through the windows of the room.

* * *

**Centrino Tower, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

Suzaku Kururugi was exhausted. He had just finished punching the hell out of a punching bag. His hands were red and small cuts on his knuckles were pouring blood. He had been at it for the past hour, punching the bag non stop. He did his best to keep hitting the bag, despite his tired body and rising heart beats.

His brown hair was wet with sweat and his upper body was shining as his chest moved up and down. His legs could be seen shaking very slightly as he did his best to stay in a standing position. Now that Suzaku was done with his training, he would calm his body and mind down with some meditation and then take a shower, followed by a meal Suzaku had prepared to help with his muscle development.

Suzaku sat down on the mat and he looked around the small dojo that was a part of his step-father's condo. It was small and had numerous modern exercising machines, as well as lockers, a giant mat, punching bags and dummies used for kick boxing.

Despite the size, it proved effective and Suzaku had been training there every day for the past week. At first the only areas where Suzaku had entered in his home were his room and the bathroom. Aside from that, Suzaku would spend his time with Lelouch, at Ashford, and for a meal he'd go to restaurants, cafes, and diners. In Suzaku's mind, he would go anywhere he could go to avoid coming to his, "home". But sleep and the body's need for cleanliness as well as the release of bodily waste and fluids was important.

That was something Suzaku hated. Coming to this place. The condo that his father's murderer owned. His former mentor and former idol was now the one person he hated most and at times even desired to kill. However, Suzaku vowed never to stoop that low. Even if Tohdoh was the most evil man to exist, he would never become like him.

Suzaku shook his head as he tried to get the hateful ideas out of his mind. Meditating was about relaxation, calmness, and happiness. Hatred had to be kept out, otherwise he'd never get anywhere when it came to relieving his body and mind from tension. As Suzaku began to enter a calm state with a cleared mind, something shattered his transition into a blank world. The gong of a bell. It was the doorbell which Suzaku didn't hear often since not a single person has ever come to this place, unless they had business with Tohdoh who was never here either.

Suzaku sighed and he stood up from his cross legged position on the mat and he exited the dojo. Suzaku was walking barefoot along the hallway which was completely dark, aside from the faint light at the end of the hall which came from the sun, shining through the condo's windows. Suzaku made a left into the living room and the front door was now in his field of vision. Suzaku slowly walked towards it and peaked into the peephole to verify see who his visitor was. He saw Euphie standing there, with a saddened expression on her face. It seemed Suzaku's continued absence at the academy was taking its toll on her and Suzaku couldn't stay locked up in here forever without his friends worrying so Suzaku unlocked the door and opened it to let her in. However, right when the door opened a centimeter, a loud noise could be heard and in came the entire Studnet Council, excitement filling their voices as they entered his home without any permission. But Suzaku knew full well when it came to Milly she didn't need it.

Everyone came inside and sat down on Suzaku's couches as he closed and locked the door after their entrance. Once everyone was seated, Suzaku asked, "Why are you all here?" His voice showed signs of annoyance, but his eyes were weary and tired as he had only just completed his training.

"First off, before I tell you why we came in I would like to say that Suzaku sure does have an amazing and muscular figure. I didn't think you had muscles like these when you never show it at school." Milly said in a flirtatious voice. Suzaku's face reddened only slightly as he waited for Milly to end her teasing and move on.

"Now we came because we were worried about you. You haven't come to school since Lelouch and the others left to Europe and if you continue to miss days like this then you'll eventually be dropped from Ashford and be left to go to another school." Milly explained to Suzaku who was nodding he head to each word she said.

"I know that. I'm already prepared actually. I decided I'll be taking online classes here at home, rather than spend time at an actual school in an effort to save time. If I spend four hours here at home, rather than spend seven hours at the academy, I can have more time for my job." Suzaku lied.

"Oh? So you're going to begin working now? Where at?" asked Gino, hoping he'd find out at which store or restaurant so he could mess with his friend.

"Not anywhere. I'm working at...er...with my father." Suzaku said, biting the last word.

"WHAT?" everyone yelled at this sudden revelation.

"You're going to be working with the Black Knights? I thought you didn't want to go into the military!" Rivalz yelled out, repeating Suzaku's words from the Career Day they had in November.

"You did say that. You were talking about business and economics during the Career Day and now you've changed your mind about your future...did your step-father change your mind?" Nina asked, curious as to why someone who hated the military and violence would suddenly become a hypocrite and join up with the Black Knights, the most famous military organization in the globe.

"Something like that. Look, don't worry about it too much. There's food in the fridge and in the pantry. You guys can help yourselves to whatever you want. I need to take a shower. After that we can talk more." Suzaku said, turning on his heel and walking back down the hallway and entering his room which, luckily, had a shower with it. He locked his door and quickly took off his clothes and picked up the small pile he had picked out earlier. With that in hand, Suzaku entered his bathroom and began his shower which wouldn't be full of relaxation as he had hoped. Instead, he would be busy working out the lie he had just told not too long ago.

Meanwhile in the living room, the Ashford Academy Student Council was talking about Suzaku's sudden decision. Milly was the first to ask, "What do you guys think of his choice? Do you think his father is forcing him into this or not?"

"I doubt it. Remember, Tohdoh did kill his real father and is always at work so I don't think he'd come back to make him join the military. Maybe Suzaku is doing this on his own." Shirley hypothesized as she remembered what Suzaku had told them earlier as well as the way he said it all.

"So you think Tohdoh is taking care of Suzaku as redemption?" Rivalz asked, confused by her words.

"It would make sense. I mean according to the rumor I heard of back then, Tohdoh was one of Suzaku's trainers." Milly said, recalling what she heard many years before.

"What do you mean rumors?" Gino asked, wondering how Milly could know such a personal thing about Suzaku when he never told anyone anything about his past.

"Well during the war eight years ago, the Black Knights fought against the Japanese army at Narita and were defeated by them, which gave Tohdoh the name, The Miracle Worker, since nobody could beat Zero before that battle. However in the process, Tohdoh was captured and soon after that, Tohdoh supposedly "escaped" from captivity." Milly explained as she put up her fingers to represent quotation marks on the word, escaped. "So when he escaped he went back to his HQ and he killed the Prime Minister there, ending the war and giving the Black Knights victory." Milly finished.

"So how did you hear that Tohdoh was his trainer?" asked Rivalz, the question lingering in his mind.

"Well my grandfather was in Japan before and during the war and he met with the Prime Minister in an attempt to negotiate where Ashford Academy could be placed, since tensions between Japan and Britannia grew during the Oriental Incident. So he visited the Prime Minister at the Kururugi Shrine and there he said he saw Tohdoh training with Suzaku. They were doing something called, kendo, I think." Milly finished.

"I see. So that's why Tohdoh was so close to the Kururugi family. And it'd make sense that Tohdoh would become his guardian in order to redeem himself and to take care of someone he knew personally." Gino said, putting the pieces of Suzaku's past together.

"But what about Suzaku joining the military?" Nina asked quietly, wondering how a self-proclaimed pacifist could turn so easily.

"He's lying." Anya said suddenly, without turning her eyes away from her phone.

"How do you know?" Shirley asked, wondering how the girl who spent all of her time with only Nunnally could know if Suzaku was lying.

"Suzaku is a man of ideals. He wouldn't go against them ever. Openly he might, but never in his head." Anya explained as she closed her phone shut and sighed.

"You don't know that. You don't have proof." Rivalz proclaimed. "We need him to say it, otherwise we only have rumors."

"Euphie." Milly said.

Euphemia was quiet the whole time with her head down, but the mention of her name caused her to jump slightly. "Y-Yes?" she asked, wondering what Milly had in store for her.

"We're all going to leave now. But I want you to stay here and figure out if Suzaku is lying. You are the only one here who can do this since Lelouch is in Europe. You can figure it out and without us here, there will be no interruptions. So will you do it?" Milly asked, wondering if Euphemia would put up a fight.

"Okay." Euphie said silently, surprising Milly and the others. It seemed that Euphemia was just as curious as her friends were.

"Fine then. Come on guys, let's go back to the school. We'll see you later then, Euphie." Milly said as she walked out of the condo with the rest of the council. Euphemia sat on the couch, still in a silent state. She began to think hard. How could she get Suzaku to tell the truth? The only way would be to use the tactics Lelouch used and be very fierce and forward. Otherwise she wouldn't get anywhere.

* * *

**Ikaruga, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

Zero was sitting in his personal quarters, going over the numerous files he had received recently with the current status on a secret project he had been commencing ever since the drop of the Fuji meteor earlier that month. The masked leader of the Black Knights couldn't help, but smile at the high rate of successful mutations. He believed that their Okinawan Project would fail compared to the European Project that Lelouch and his friends were at right now.

Europe had been at work on their Radiated Sukuradite Program for almost five years now so it'd make sense that Lelouch's father would send them all there for training. But thanks to the new tactics being used at Okinawa, the Black Knights would have a special unit of people who would be able to fight on par with Europe's Energy Bearers. And then there was Britannia to worry about. The Britannians started a similar project in secret eight years ago, around the time that Sapien sent his children away to Japan for their safety.

Zero just sighed as he took off his mask and placed it onto the coffee table, next to his feet which were resting themselves after walking around the entire ship. He looked at the paper in his hand and looked at the total output they had compared to their input. Out of 1000 people, only 763 had finished mutation. That left almost 200. It was a good number, but it was nothing compared to Europe which bothered Zero. The E.U., although a fellow democracy, was corrupt and a wild card. The Chinese Federation was too focused on its own economic problems to care for what happened with the rest of the world. And finally the Britannians had a plan to get Japan or Europe. Whichever one it was would lead to war which was something Zero couldn't let happen and if he put economic pressure on Britannia like the way Genbu Kururugi did eight years ago, then Japan would surely be taken down. Just because they had the same technological power, didn't mean they had the same amount of soldiers and ships to spare like Britannia did.

So Zero would have to keep the status quo while he came up with a plan to take care of the E.U. and Britannia. And to do that he would have to go and visit Okinawa.

* * *

**Centrino Tower, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

"Suzaku." Euphemia said as she looked on at the wall in front of her, imagining she was speaking to Suzaku. She gulped as a small drop of sweat went down her brow.

"I...I...well you see...Oh I don't know what to say." Euphie said giving up as she pondered over what she'd ask him. She did believe Suzaku knew something but she didn't think he would give up so easily or rather she didn't think he would talk at all. So she decided to be like Lelouch which for Euphie was near if not entirely impossible to do. How could she use Lelouch's intelligent charisma to pry Suzaku's lies open? She couldn't. So the pink haired girl decided instead to use her own way of doing things and would just ask Suzaku straight forward which would be difficult, but it was the only way she knew how.

And just as she began to speak to the wall again, she heard footsteps and after turning around, facing her was Suzaku, dressed in denim jeans, white socks, and a towel around his neck. This caused Euphie to blush immensely. Well she had seen Suzaku shirtless before, but every time she did she would blush as she had never seen such a handsome, strong, and kind person like that before.

"Did everyone leave already? Why is something wrong?" Suzaku asked as he used his towel to begin drying his hair which was still letting droplets of water fall to the floor.

"Suzaku...why is Lelouch in Europe?" Euphie asked, not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer. She wanted the truth and she would continuously ask until Suzaku gave up.

"...He..." Suzaku began, only to pause to think of the right words to say. How could Suzaku explain such a thing without revealing the truth behind Lelouch leaving for Europe? What could he say to Euphie that she would believe and that wouldn't give up Lelouch's secrecy? "He found his father." Suzaku stated, hoping she'd buy it.

"He did? He found my Uncle Sapien?" Euphemia asked, joy and wonder entering her eyes.

"Yes. So he decided it would be best to go to Europe with Rolo and Nunnally to figure out what happened years ago. He didn't want to drag you along because he knew your sister wouldn't allow it." Suzaku explained, remembering the possible wrath Cornelia Lamperouge could bring down upon them.

"I see...But why didn't he tell us that directly? Why did he just leave a broad note?" asked Euphemia, wanting more and more explanations from her friend.

"I wouldn't know. Lelouch doesn't tell me everything. But I do hope he finds what he's looking for." Suzaku said as he looked out the window of the Centrino Tower, gazing upon the busy Tokyo Settlement. The city was vast and extremely technologically advanced. It was nicknamed the, "Pendragon Of The East", since the prosperity of both cities was almost equal. But despite this Tokyo was corrupt, just like the Black Knights were. Just like his adoptive father.

"I see. I guess I'll be leaving now. It was nice seeing you Suzaku." Euphemia said as she began to exit the condo. Before she left she heard Suzaku say, "Goodbye...Euphie...". The pink haired beauty sighed and began her walk towards the nearby elevator. As she walked on, she passed by a small group of four men, each dressed in black military style clothes. She didn't notice much, but she did see the face of the man in front. His indigo eyes were dark and his red hair was faded. His gaze showed signs of agitation and his smile showed signs of pleasure. Whomever he was, he was up to something.

* * *

**Ikaruga, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

**2 Hours Earlier...**

Naoto Kouzuki was walking towards the cafeteria where he knew he would find the famous, Kyoshiroh Tohdoh. Tohdoh was the leader of the Four Holy Swords and was known for betraying Genbu Kururugi during the war 8 years ago. The rumor that Genbu was going to sell off Japan was never confirmed, but what did happen was Kyoshiroh killing his former friend, the Prime Minister Kururugi. And after that he took Suzaku Kururugi under his wing, as a form of redemption some people say. And knowing this, Naoto would ask the Commander some questions regarding Suzaku.

Naoto approached the table where Tohdoh sat, surprisingly without the rest of the Four Holy Swords group. And this was the perfect opportunity to confront him. Naoto sat across from the Commander and waited for his superior officer to finish eating his bowl of noodle soup. Once the last of the meal was eaten, Commander Tohdoh put the bowl up to his lips and drank the remaining broth. Once it slid down his throat, he placed the bowl back down, opened his eyes and gave Naoto a questionable stare.

"May I help you, Captain Kouzuki?" Tohdoh asked, his voice which was calm still retained it's authority, slightly confusing Naoto on how the question was meant to be taken, but nontheless, Naoto answered.

"I wanted to speak with you about your adoptive son, Suzaku Kurugugi." Naoto stated, as he lay his hands in a calm stature upon the table.

"What do you wish to know?" Tohdoh asked, placing a serious expression upon his face.

"You see, Suzaku is friends with my younger sister Kallen and they attend Ashford Academy together. Now my sister has gone missing. I haven't seen her in almost a week and I was wondering if I could speak with Suzaku about it. I was hoping he had some information regarding where she could be." Naoto half-lied.

"I see. Very well then. I guess I'll accompany you to see him at my home. I'm sure he's there right now, training." Tohdoh said as he recalled each time he came home and saw Suzaku was training himself in similar fashion to the way he did many years ago.

"I'd greatly appreciate it." Naoto stated, smiling inwardly as his plan began to put itself into motion.

* * *

**Centrino Tower, Tokyo Settlement, United States of Japan**

Suzaku sighed as he sat down upon the couch, still drying off his brown curls. However, the sound of a lock opening caught his attention and he immediately stood up, knowing who was coming in. It was Tohdoh who was more than likely coming in for some relaxation time. The door opened and in came four people. The one who was holding open the door was Tohdoh and along with him were three figures, two of them clearly hiding their identities and the last one being someone Suzaku hadn't seen in a while.

"Naoto Kouzuki." Suzaku said under his breath, remembering the little quarrel they had at the Fuji Resort.

"Suzaku Kururugi. Your guardian has brought me here because I have questions to ask of you. I need to know what happened to my younger sister, Kallen Kouzuki." Naoto explained as he walked towards Suzaku, stopping only a couple of feet from him.

"I wouldn't know. She and I aren't close. You'd more than likely find information like this from the school." Suzaku said, not wanting to reveal what truly happened to his friend.

"Suzaku, you must tell this man what happened to his sibling if you know anything. If not, you could be an assailant to a possible crime." Tohdoh explained, closing the door behind him as he approached his adoptive son.

"I understand that, but I do not have any information. I haven't spoken to her in almost a week." Suzaku explained as he began to formulate a possible story as to what happened when he last met with Kallen.

"Then did she say anything out of the ordinary?" Naoto asked, wondering if Suzaku would stutter or trip on his own words.

"Nothing." Suzaku said, taking the careful road by saying giving direct to the point responses.

"I find that hard to believe." Naoto stated, getting up to an inch away from Suzaku's face.

"Suzaku, are you positive that you know absolutely nothing?" Tohdoh asked, hoping Suzaku wasn't lying to protect one of his own.

"I know nothing about Kallen Kouzuki's whereabouts." Suzaku stated, giving Naoto a glare of anger and death.

"I don't believe what you are saying Mr. Kururugi. So I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way." Naoto said with a smirk, snapping his fingers into the air and in a quick and swift movement, pulling out a pistol and aiming at Suzaku's forehead, the barrel grazing Suzaku's skin. Before Tohdoh could retaliate, the two men that came along with them had pinned Tohdoh to the floor, one man holding down his arms and the other stepping on the Commander's legs. "So let me ask again. Where is my little sister?" Naoto asked once more, finger gently touching the trigger.

"I don't know." Suzaku replied, grinding his teeth as he thought of a way to get himself and Tohdoh out of this situation.

"You see Suzaku, my sister is very dear to me. And she's very profitable as well. I can sell her off to any Britannian noble or any mafia in this world and I can receive an extremely large amount of money because of who she is. As daughter of the Stadtfeld family, she's worth more than you know. And I won't allow you or Lelouch or any of your foolish friends stand in the way of my big payday. And if you don't tell me where she is, your adoptive father will be killed. And maybe your friends soon after. Like that pink haired girl." Naoto explained, a smile of lust coming onto his face.

Suzaku frowned at such a thought. "If you lay one hand on any of them...I'll...I'll..." Suzaku said, thinking of a threatening word to say or a phrase to blurt out that could possibly cause Naoto to reconsider his actions.

"What could _you_ do? You have no power in this world. All you'll ever be known as is the dead son of the ex-Prime Minister." Naoto said, his smirk growing wider.

And in a lightning fast movement, Suzaku pushed the gun away from his head and grabbed hold of Naoto, rushing towards the nearby windows at full speed. And with a yell and a jump, Suzaku and Naoto crashed through the glass and they began their plummet to the ground. The air rushed through their hair, blinding their sight as they tried to figure out where they were. Naoto' scream pierced through the wind as they dived down. However, Suzaku knew exactly what to do. He knew how to get out of here and he figured, he'd save Naoto to bring upon him real justice. Suzaku's shirt tore through the back and from his back came his green energy wings which gave him his flight ability. And with a quick burst of speed, he grabbed Naoto with both arms, holding him tight around the chest. Suzaku began to slow down and with a quick turn, they were headed back towards the window Suzaku broke them out of.

Once they reached his level, he practically through Naoto into the building, whom crashed into his two subordinates. With the two men off of him, Tohdoh quickly reached for his holster and pulled out his own pistol, shooting Naoto and his goons in the legs to prevent them from walking. Tohdoh turned his attention back towards Suzaku who had entered their home, his wings still fully activated. The sight of his son with green energy wings shocked Tohdoh, but it answered a lot of questions.

"You're the green orb aren't you?" Tohdoh asked Suzaku, already knowing the answer. Suzaku nodded. "I see. Then I'll have to take you back to the Ikaruga for questioning." Tohdoh said, preparing to shoot Suzaku should he run off.

"Fine."

* * *

**Sorry for shortness and the long wait, but I was only working on this chapter 30 minutes a day, Monday-Friday at my school's library during lunch. I had the plot in my mind and I wanted to write it down, but other projects kept getting in the way. Just know that the next one will be longer and will hopefully come out much sooner than this one did. Anyway, let me know what you think so far! Also know that next chapter we'll be seeing what happens in Europe with Lelouch and friends!**


	6. Stage 6: Training

**Hello Everyone! Been a while. Thanks for those who like and support this story despite being only five-ish chapters. Now this story is coming to it's end, but don't worry. For those of you who go on the Code Geass Fanon wiki, you know what'll be coming in after Genetic Mutation is finished and if that is well received, we can go onto a trilogy! Sound good? I think so. Also know that for those of you who think Naoto is out of character, we don't really know how Naoto would have been. He was only described as a kind and strong person. That was from Ohgi and Kallen's view point. But towards others, specifically those who get near Kallen, he's more than likely viscous. The protective sibling if you will. Anyway that's all I have to say, so thanks again and go on and read!**

* * *

**January 21st, 2018 a.t.b.**

**Malkal Castle, London, European Union**

"We've got a problem!" a voice yelled, slightly muffled by the doors at the far end of the dining room. Lelouch, Rolo, and Nunnally were all sitting at the table, eating their lunch which was made of rice, steak, and numerous vegetables that Rolo was doing his best to avoid.

From the double doors came in three people. The one at front, who seemed to be more pissed off than anything was Sapien Lamperouge and behind him were Layla Malkal and Shane Contineo/Lamperouge. Sapien walked up towards Lelouch and began dragging him by the arm back to where he had entered. Once past the double doors, Sapien looked at Lelouch straight in the eye and gave him a huge hug. Lelouch was extremely shocked as he tried to swallow the fact that his father had come to see him. That and the piece of meat in his mouth.

"I'm sorry Lelouch, but we don't really have time for a reunion. Look at this." Sapien said as he gave Lelouch a slip of paper. It read:

"_From the Euro Order_

_To Sapien Lamperouge_

_It was recently discovered that Suzaku Kururugi, one of the four original Fourth Generation Energy Bearers was indeed arrested on the day of January 20th of 2018 a.t.b. We now have intel that Kururugi has been admitted into the Energy Bearers Knight Armor Program being led by the Black Knights in secret. This project will arm Suzaku Kururugi with weaponry from the latest knightmare frames so he can go into combat on par with Britannian forces or at a much higher level. We must now put the other three Fourth Generation Energy Bearers into the Wyvern Project and begin testing so we can be a step ahead of the Japanese."_

"What does this mean exactly?" Lelouch asked as he looked over the note.

"It means that Suzaku has been captured. He is now the lab rat for the Black Knights and if they have him they can use his genetic abilities as a form of military research and weapon development which will not end well for us in the slightest. So you will be going with Shane and Layla to France immediately so you can begin suiting up. Rolo and Nunnally will stay here under my supervision. You must go right now so we don't waste a minute." Sapien said as he turned around and reentered the dining room to speak with his other children while Layla and Shane began walking Lelouch towards the entrance to go to the airport.

* * *

**Private W-0 Jetliner, Skies Over France**

Lelouch was sitting with Shane and Layla in a very luxurious jet, headed for Paris. According to what Shane had told him, there was a special place there for people with abilities like him. But up to this point, Lelouch didn't really understand what was happening. He understood what was happening to Suzaku, but what he didn't understand was why they were making a huge fuss over it. Right now the world was at peace and the relations between the world's superpowers was beyond great. So he saw no point in panicking over the situation.

"I still don't understand why you all care. The Japanese and the Britannians are always upgrading their military might. So what if they use Suzaku for research. I mean, that is how the militaries of the world got to this point isn't it? By using us as research?" Lelouch asked, wondering if someone would answer him.

"I understand what you are saying Lelouch, but there is far more to it than that." Layla said as she pressed some buttons on her chairs armrest. On the blank monitor to Lelouch's left, a map of the world suddenly came up and the windows of the jet closed, leaving the screen as the only source of light.

"You see, the Energy Bearers have existed since the beginning of time. People with many different abilities have existed through time. And only recently have they been used as a means of research. In Britannia, Japan, Europe, and China, there exists places called, Orders. These Orders are cities which consist of only Energy Bearers and each Order is located underground. Now, we've recently found out that the Fuji Asteroid had activated the powers of Energy Bearers throughout the world. Thus creating the next generation of Energy Bearers, the Fourth Generation." Layla explained. "Now you, Suzaku, Rai, and Kallen are all Fourth Generations from Japan. In Europe, we only have four. We assume that there are others in Britannia and the Chinese Federation. The fourth generations have abilities that can create weapons that can give any nation the ability of conquering the world. And the only nations we know who are willing to do such a thing is Britannia and Japan. Our spies in Britannia and our satellite imagery has found out that the Britannians are planning something big, but we don't know what. So we need you to stop it. The Euro Order has the goal of preserving the peace. In order to do that you need to train so you can reclaim Suzaku Kururugi and eventually stop the Britannians. Otherwise the whole world could be in peril." Layla finished.

"What sort of peril?" Lelouch asked, wondering if they were only exaggerating.

"They have a floating fortress being constructed. Also they have weapons of mass destruction named, F.L.E.I.J.A. We don't know what it is made of, but we do know it's capabilities and that they used Fourth Generations to create it. We managed to get some video feed of it's power." Shane said as he pointed at the monitor. Lelouch looked at it and saw a wasteland. But then a missile flew onto the scene and the warhead exploded with the missile releasing a giant orb of violet energy. The sphere collapsed on itself and in its place was nothing but a vast crater.

"They have one of these?" Lelouch asked.

"Mass produced actually. Once Damocles is finished, they can use it to take over the world which we can't allow." Shane said as the monitor turned off and the windows opened.

"So I'm going to train with your friends in France along with Rai and Kallen so we can find and rescue Suzaku. Then you want us to go to Britannia, destroy Damocles and their weapons? Sounds more like a death sentence." Lelouch said frowning at such a thought.

"It won't be just you guys. We do have other flight capable Energy Bearers who are willing to fight as well." Layla added.

"But what about Zero? I thought you and him were friends. He can just stop the project and hand over Suzaku right?" Lelouch asked, hoping they would agree.

"Not anymore. For some reason he has turned his goals around. He wants to destroy Britannia at all costs. We don't know what's going on in his head, but we can't let him continue on his goal. Otherwise the world will fall into chaos." Shane explained.

"That is why you and the others are going to France to meet up with other Energy Bearers as well as my personal squadron, the W-0 Squad which will teach you as much as possible as quickly as possible so we can start the operation and save Kururugi. You only have two weeks of training before we go to Japan." Layla explained.

"Two weeks? That isn't even close to enough time to prepare for such an operation. And we can't just go in there without any form of protection. Our abilities alone aren't enough." Lelouch stated as he remembered the fight over Mt. Fuji almost a month prior. If the Japanese had people like them within their ranks then they sure as hell must have had counter-measures.

"We're going to be outfitting you all with Knight-Armors. They are knightmare like suits which you will wear when fighting against the enemy. Based upon the data we collected from you and the others we have created special armors for each of you thanks to some of our spies within the Britannian and Japanese Orders. You will spend this week training without the armors and next week with them. Also our own pilots have armors too which are extremely agile so when fighting against them you had better watch out." Layla explained as she smirked at the thought of their advanced weaponry which was proven to be much more capable in a battle than the weak Sutherland units, despite not being introduced to the public eye.

"I see. But after this mission is complete I expect you to give Rai, Kallen, and I an antidote. That was the reason we came here. If you don't keep your part of the bargain, then I'll destroy your research." Lelouch threatened, making sure they understood his words.

"Very well then." Layla answered. "I will make sure you get what you want, but you must do what we want first. Then you can go home."

* * *

**Euro Order, France, European Union**

It was amazing. The city was grand and the buildings, although lacking in detail, were tall and mysterious. Lelouch never thought that such a place could exist underneath the Earth's surface. They had gone to Paris and they visited the Eiffel Tower. Near the tall metal structure was a church that appeared to be abandoned and they entered it. It was a dark place that appeared old in age, but was well kept to stay that way. Behind the podium, up against a wall was a tinted window with multiple colors and image of an angel holding a fallen man and a red sigil above them.

Lelouch followed Layla and Shane who went behind the podium where a door was seen beneath the tinted window. Layla put in a code into the number pad next to the door and it slid open. An elevator was revealed behind it and they all entered and they descended into the underground city that they stood in now. There were streets and sidewalks like any regular city, but the feeling of it was alien. The buildings lacked detail that a person would normally see in a city. No distinction whatsoever as all Lelouch could see that was different was the height and the numbers on each buildings face.

It was also relatively quiet and nobody was seen walking around or driving to work. Like a barren wasteland. Empty and devoid of life. But the sound of an engine interrupted Lelouch's thoughts and a vehicle approached them, an APC with the standard European colors. The vehicle came to a halt and the rear door opened and Layla lead the way inside with Shane following her so Lelouch did the same. Once inside of the truck, Lelouch could see that his friends were already here. Rai and Kallen sat there in casual clothing, but with bored expressions on their face. They looked at Lelouch and smiled at his presence since it confirmed his safety, but they didn't say a thing, instead keeping the awkward silence in the air.

"Now that we're all assembled, I'll breif you on the situation." Shane said once inside of the APC. "As you already know, Suzaku Kururugi has been captured by the Japanese military and is going to be put into their Order for testing and for a war against Britannia. So we will have you all train for two weeks with the W-0 Squadron, a group of Third Generation Energy Bearers that will assist in teaching you what you need to know. Once you're ready, you will be sent in on a stealth mission to find and rescue Kururugi and obtain information regarding their project and goals. Depending on what we find, we will either destroy their facility or leave without a sound."

And with the end of his briefing, the vehicle came to it's halt and they exited the armored truck. Once outside they looked up at another detail-less building with the number eleven on it's front. They entered through the front doors and once inside, Lelouch was amazed once again. They were inside of a large room, as big as a hangar with multiple lights, computers, wires, and other machines monitoring a group of four Knight-Armors with four people overlooking the work on the ground floor. They neared this group of four, ignoring the scientists and engineers who were working on the machines.

These people were all around Lelouch's age range and they were wearing a similar uniform to Layla's, which was an azure colored European uniform with a winged dragon on the back. But each uniform was slightly different from the other, thanks to the key differences obviously made by each person to better define who they were, rather than wear the same uniform like the rest of the European military like stiff soldiers. This proved there was a form of independence in this group.

"Everyone, listen up. These are the new recruits who will be training with you until Operation Kamine." Layla said sternly, making the group turn around to face the newcomers. On the left side were three males and on the right was a female, probably a little younger than Kallen.

The first male had blue colored hair which was spiked in the rear, like Kallen's, and he had a braid, like Gino. Standing next to him was another male with a cocky grin on his face and spiked brown hair. The third male had short brown hair, like Rolo, but his bangs swayed to one side. And finally, the female had short brown hair as well which was combed down. This was the W-0 Squadron.

"Let me introduce everyone. This is First Lieutenant Akito Hyuuga." Shane said, pointing towards the blue haired one and he continued down the line. "This is Ryo Sayama, Yukiya Naruse, and finally Ayano Kosaka." Shane then faced the group and introduced Lelouch, Rai, and Kallen. Once introductions were finished, Lelouch eyed them all and he couldn't help, but notice that some tension was rising between their groups.

Akito was eyeing Lelouch suspiciously and Lelouch would return the glare. Ryo looked at Rai with an untrusting look which Rai did his best to ignore. But the youngest male, Yukiya, was giving Rai a smirk that made the white haired beauty angry. The same was with Kallen and Ayano. For some reason, the two groups were beginning to silently hate one another and this would not make the next two weeks go by quickly.

"Now let me introduce you to the rest of the squadron." Layla offered as she began walking towards where the engineers were at. As Lelouch walked he had barely noticed that a few of them were wearing the same uniforms as Layla. Three people approached them, two of which were wearing lab coats to distinguish themselves from those who weren't scientists and the other was wearing a uniform like Layla's. One of them was a rather large man who was apparently biting at a lollipop. He wore glasses and had light brown hair combed and gelled back. The second scientist was a busty woman who had brown hair, light indigo eyes and a seductive look on her face.

"H-Hi. My name is Joe Wise. I'm one of the assistant researchers here." Joe introduced as he bit at the sweet in his mouth.

"Hello, I'm Sophie Randall, one of the lead scientists here." Sophie stated rather proudly. And finally, the third person introduced herself. She had long light violet hair and green eyes. Her facial features reminded Lelouch of Nunnally to an extreme extent.

"My name is Anna Clement. I'm the lead developer and researcher of the European Knight-Armors." Anna said with a smile that made Lelouch think of his younger sister.

"Now let me introduce to each of you our Knight-Armors. These models were specifically made for this group based on their performance data in combat. They are the W-0/X Alexanders. Each model is made with it's own custom weaponry for each pilot." Anna began to explain as she lead the group to the Knight-Armors near where Akito and the others were standing.

She walked to the Knight-Armor on the far left which was completely colored white and it was a design that Lelouch or the others had never seen before. It's central chest had little armor and had a more sleek design compared to the Knightmares that Lelouch had seen in his lifetime. There seemed to be an air-vent in the abdominal region which was lined red and a protective armor around the crotch area which had a dark blue gem embedded into it. The legs had a somewhat sharp appearance, but it seemed to be for protection. The arms had countless layers of armor on the forearms as well as sharpened hands for gloves. The shoulder armor had two horns coming from them, which were small, and finally the head armor.

The head had two red tipped horns protruding from the sides of the head and a red cross on it's forehead. The facemask was blank white except for the emerald colored eyes.

"This is the W-0/X Alexander Type-01. This was the first and is the original Alexander unit. It is piloted by Lieutenant Hyuuga and the main weapons he uses are the linear rifles and the combat tonfas." Anna explained as she showed off her proud creation. "Now onto the other units. Unlike the original Alexander, these are Type-02's. Unfortunately, mass producing the Alexander is a tough job, so we had to modify it to make production easier while keeping it's high combat abilities. So we came up with the W-0/X Alexander Type-02." Anna continued as she moved on towards the unit on the right of the Alexander.

It had the same appearance as the Alexander, however, it had small key differences. The shoulder armors lacked the horns facing up and instead had one horn facing down and outwards on each side. Also the heads were different as they lacked the horns the Alexander had and they also had differing facemasks. And finally, the most obvious difference was the color scheme. They were white with blue lining certain parts, like the ankle armors, waist armors, chest, air vent, and head.

"This particular model is used by Second Lieutenant Ryo Sayama. The difference between the others and this one is that Ryo's has three V shaped visors that are lined horizontally. His machine uses close combat axes as well as the linear gun and a missile pod." Anna explained, pointing at the various weapons attached to the machine.

"Now this next one is used by Second Lieutenant Ayano Kosaka. Its facemask has two eyes, like Akito's, but these are sharper. Now it's weapons include the linear rifle, but it's melee weapon is a katana, meant to combat the long swords used by the Britannians." Anna said.

"And finally this one is used by Second Lieutenant Yukiya Naruse. It has a single T shaped visor on the facemask and it uses a linear rifle and an extension to it in combat, making it the long-range unit. And that's all for our Knight-Armors." Anna completed, turning around to answer any questions.

"What about that one there?" Rai asked as he pointed at yet another Alexander-Type 02 which nobody was working on. It looked completed, but nobody bothered with the machine.

"Oh. That's the fourth model. It was meant for Commander Malkal, but after a test-run it was revealed that her body wasn't strong enough for such a machine. Only Third-Generation Energy Bearers and higher can pilot them. And Layla isn't an Energy Bearer at all." Anna explained, causing her superior and best friend to sneer at her.

"Will we be piloting Alexanders as well?" Kallen asked, wanting to see how difficult it really was to use such a machine.

"No. You'll be piloting customized Knight-Armors made just for you by the Militarized Zone of India. We received them today and you'll start getting accustomed with them as soon as possible." Layla stated, still slightly peeved at the fact that she can't pilot a Knight-Armor.

"India? Didn't they also make the Knightmares for the Black Knights?" Rai asked, remembering an article he read about the Black Knights and their weapons.

"That's right. And they got that technology from Energy Bearers. They work for both us and the Japanese. The Black Knights are unaware, but I think Zero will catch on soon enough. Anyway, your machines have been customized for you based on what you've told us. So, Anna will take you to your machines and you will begin training. Have a good day everyone." Layla said as she began walking towards the door they entered from. Shane stayed behind, wanting to see how this would all work out.

"So let me show you the first Fourth-Generation Knight-Armors!" Anna said gleefully as she walked everyone towards the other side of the grand room which was also filled with scientists, engineers, and computer systems to monitor their machines. Three Knight-Armors stood in place, each one of a different color. On the far left was a red colored one with a large golden claw as it's right arm. In the middle was a black and gold colored armor with no obvious weapon systems. And finally, on the right was a blue colored machine with it's own silver claw on the left arm.

"Allow me to introduce the Guren, Shinkirou, and Gekka!" Anna presented, causing Lelouch to arch his eyebrow in confusion, but it quickly went away.

"Guren? And Gekka? How can these be new and custom if they're based off of models that already exist? The only new one I see is the one in the middle." Rai stated, somewhat disappointed in their machines.

"Well they are one of a kind as they are the ONLY Fourth-Generation Knight-Armors. Not only that, but the Guren and Gekka each carry an advanced version of the Radiant Wave Surger as well as MVS fork-knives. The middle armor, Shinkiro, carries a chest Transition Particle Beam Cannon and in the wrists are Hadron Blasters." Anna explained, making sure each knew about their weaponry.

Joe interrupted by adding, "However, these weapons can only be activated by your powers which contain amazingly high outputs of energy. Using the focus systems in the heads of the Knight-Armors, you can create actual attacks which won't be as wild as the ones you used back then in Japan."

"And thus you can effectively battle against your enemies without much effort, especially thanks to your Energy Wings, which differ in abilities thanks to the amount of feathers you each have. For example, Lelouch has one feather, meaning that he has the ability to create Energy Shields. Rai has two feathers, meaning he has characteristics of all the other feathers, like Lelouch's defense. Kururugi has three feathers, which gives him an edge in battle, increasing his attack abilities. And finally, Kallen has four feathers which increase her speed, making it faster than anyone else. " Sophie explained, based off of the data she gathered from everyone.

"I see. So Lelouch is defense, Kallen is speed, Suzaku is offense, and I'm multi-purpose." Rai came to a conclusion, thinking over their battles in the past where this was proven true.

"Exactly. Now to ensure that my theory isn't flawed, I suggest you suit up and enter your machines." Sophie said, handing them all pilot suits which were made to restrict G-Forces upon the body and to increase mobility. Rai's was white with a blue outline while Kallen's was pure red with a black outline and Lelouch's was black with a red outline. Once they were all ready, the scientists and engineers directed them towards their respective Knight-Armors. It was actually relatively simple to put on these machines, just as easy as putting on regular clothing.

They climbed into the Armors by putting their lower body into the machines leg and waist armors and they would do the same with all of the other body parts. After confirming that they were inside without any uneasiness or uncomfortability, the exoskeleton would tighten around their bodies to match the pilots body like a suit of spandex would. Once the attachment process was complete, the engineers would activate the suits through the wires on the various parts of the Knight-Armors.

Inside of the Knight-Armors, Lelouch could see a heads up display appear with various amounts of information flashing before his eyes. He could focus on an object or a person and he would receive any info on that person or object. "What is this? Where did you get such an effective system?" Lelouch asked as he looked over everyone one by one, gaining statistics and a bio on each person.

"That is the Druid System. It is an advanced computer which gives you any and all information needed during battle. It is very much like an A.I. and it has been implanted into each Knight-Armor we make. We don't currently know if it has been used by the Britannians or Japanese, but it is very likely." Anna explained as she recalled the information she received from a female Indian scientist who told her about this system.

"I see. So now that we're strapped in, what will you have us do?" Lelouch asked, somewhat anxious at what they would make him do.

"Well the basics come first. You'll need to learn how to properly walk in these machines first. Once you have that down we can move onto more advanced movement, like sprinting, jumping, and diving." Joe explained as he typed furiously into a computer terminal nearby, deactivating the plugged in wires which detached from the Knight-Armors. "You'll also need to learn how to power these machines without an external power source." Joe added. The HUD disappeared before Lelouch's eyes and he growled at this. Now he'd have to use his abilities with the machine, which was something easier said than done.

Lelouch closed his eyes to focus on the last few times he had used his powers. He was thinking about his family. About the safety of Nunnally and Rolo and how he wanted to keep them under protection at all times. And so he opened his eyes which were now glowing a red color and his machine came to life. The headpiece of the Shinkiro let out a small flash which confirmed it's activation and then the HUD reappeared and all the systems were now active.

"Alright. Move with me Shinkiro." Lelouch mumbled as he pushed his right leg forward. He took one step and then another, although in a very careful manner, like a child who could stumble at any moment. He positioned his arms out to keep his balance as he slowly walked around the hangar, just like Rai and Kallen who seemed to be having an easier time at this than he was. "How can you two move so easily?" Lelouch asked as he slowly walked toward his companions

"Just walk like normal. Don't act like this is some sort of difficult task. Just walk." Kallen explained as she went toward Lelouch's Shinkiro with ease.

Lelouch thought over it and couldn't help, but think that walking with this machine strapped to his body was like walking on stilts. Very difficult. However he tried to do it slowly. Lelouch stood still and put his right foot forward and landed it gently on the ground. He then took another step and began walking in a casual fashion similar to his friends who were making good progress with their machines.

* * *

**So sorry to say this, but this fanfiction is over indefinitely. I cannot find the inspiration to continue this series and so instead of deleting it like I planned on, I will leave it off like this so at the very least, you can have what could have been instead of waiting for an update. Sorry, but I'd much rather focus on my other stories and who knows I may just return and reboot this story. Thank you for your support and I hope you read my other stories.**


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